Semyon Varlamov #1 of the Colorado Avalanche takes a break during the second period against the New York Islanders at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on November 11, 2014 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, N.Y. – That’s how Matt Duchene described tonight’s game at the Nassau Coliseum, where the hometown Islanders thoroughly dominated the Avs.
It was really pretty shocking watching this game. I mean, the Avs were completely outplayed. They simply couldn’t do anything offensively. Nothing. They got 20 shots on Jaroslav Halak, but I don’t recall one remotely dangerous scoring chance. Patrick Roy is trying to keep it positive in his postgame pressers, but in the room there wasn’t much positivity. Duchene about the state of things, and basically said it’s time to get “P’d O” about it all.
Things are clearly in mode. You lose a game like that, and it can’t just be easily dismissed as one of those nights. I’m sure Roy is much more critical behind the scenes, so I wouldn’t get too miffed about him for seemingly not being more upset about tonight and things overall with the season. He’s a smart man when it comes to this game, and he knows the problems that exist.
I guess if you had to name one big thing wrong right now, it’s the fact that the top two lines aren’t doing much of anything. The top six forwards failed to get a point for the second straight game. The Avs’ leading scorer (a tie at the top) has 10 points. A team with great young talent like Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon not getting one real good scoring chance? It’s just hard to believe, but it has been the case too often this year.
Is a lot of the problem because the Avs let Paul Stastny go? I mean, I and many others were all on record saying it wasn’t a good thing he got away for nothing, but I thought MacKinnon and Duchene would use his absence to grab more of the spotlight for themselves and that things would be fine at center. Well, things haven’t been fine at all.
The biggest thought I remember having tonight while watching the Avs skate offensively was – especially the top two lines: “There’s no plan here. It’s all just freelance. It’s all just a guessing game where to go, what to do.”
The forwards all seem to be standing around looking at each other, wondering who should do what. The forwards seem like they are on an island, totally divorced from the defense. Nobody is working in conjunction with each other. Nobody seems to be communicating on the ice. Everybody seems like a stranger to each other.
Could a trade be coming to shake things up? I see there are rumors out there, but in talking with Joe Sakic tonight at the game, I did not get the impression that he’s burning up the phone lines trying to make a deal. And I certainly haven’t gotten that impression from Roy, who has a front-office title too.
Sports is so unpredictable. You think it’s hopeless one day, and think the good times will never end another. The Avs are in the former right now, and they’ll have the latter scenario again at some point.
But right now, the latter seems like a long ways away.
