Game 49: Predators 4, Avalanche 0

by Joe Dunman on Jan 23, 2008 6:51 AM MST in NHL News

photo courtesy of David Zalubowski/AP

I only watched the Predators play the Avalanche twice this season. The first time was live in Nashville, and the second time was last night. In both cases, the Avs got shut out 4-0. In the two games I missed, Colorado won.

Clearly, I am never allowed to watch the Avs play the Predators ever again, no matter what.

Aside from my own personal jinx, Colorado took a giant dump on the ice last night, and the defense abandoned Jose Theodore pretty much completely. The Avs took plenty of shots on goal, but a superb Dan Ellis (who?) shut them down on every chance and made it look far too easy. The combination of no defense and a brick wall between them and the opposing goal was just too much for the Avs to overcome.

But, while the D (especially Karlis Skrastins, who looked awful) channeled the Miami Dolphins, Theo isn't free of blame. In fact, at least three of the four goals he allowed were stoppable. It looks like nine straight games was one too many for him, and his predicted meltdown finally came.

Not surprisingly, I blame Coach Q. Though he's finally playing his goalies consistently, he still doesn't really get how the whole goalie thing is supposed to work. So, in an effort to help him, I'll turn now to the Nashville Predators, who have it figured out:

"I know my role and I like it," said Ellis, who plays behind Chris Mason. "I'm comfortable making starts after Chris has played the night before and I feel good playing after not playing for several days."
It was the fourth shutout of the season for Ellis, who improved to 11-5-1 and gave the Predators their third straight win.
"I stay sharp by working on as much of my game as can in practice," Ellis. said. "I stay calm by staying light and not too serious between starts and then really dial it in and become focused when I do start."
Mason had started the previous four games, including Monday night's victory over St. Louis.
"You can see we don't have any drop off when we start Dan," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "He gives us quality goaltending every time we need to give Chris some time off."

See, Q? That's how it works. The starting goalie (whoever that may be) plays for a few games, win or lose, and then when he needs a rest, the backup plays. Not nine games straight (or more) just because he's winning at the moment, and not every other game like that fiasco early in the season. Why can't Jose Theodore, if he is in fact the starter, play five games and then take one off, play five games and then take one off, etc? Why does Q have to run his goalies into the ground both physically and mentally?

Anyway, the Avs sucked hard last night. I hope they can shake it off and get back to business.

Stars of the Game:

The Predators.

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Comments

Uggg

That pretty much summed up the game. I bet Preds fans watch Skratch play against them with the same glee that we have when we watch the Wild and Skoula...

Anyway, I watched all the goals again this morning with OTF:Final and I have to agree. The first goal was a 61' foot shot back against the grain. A good shot, but those are EXACTLY the kind of goals that Theo stated he could handle, while he'd appreciate the defensemen's help on the stuff down low. He had a clear look, knew the shot was coming, and completely missed. I'll be over at ITCS today to see if Thomas shows up to defend that one...

The one that squeeked under his arm was fairly brutal too. 4 goals on 29 shots. Not a good night. Ellis played well, but he wasn't challenged the entire first period, with most of the shots being of the 30'+ variety from the boards with nobody in front for rebounds or tips.

Everybody looked flat, and the rookie factor reared it's head when Jones couldn't handle Radulov crashing the backside of the crease for his goal.

My two favorite parts of the broadcast had to be when, during the first Preds PP, the Altitude boys felt the need to point out the lack of PP scoring between the two teams in their three previous matchups. A couple of seconds later and Weber gets Nashville on the board. That would be called a jinx guys. Look it up.

Then (since they'd put the home team in a hole) they actually compared the loss of DAVID LEGWAND for the Preds to the loss of Sakic, Smyth, and Stastny. I'm pretty sure they are trying to get fired at this point...

Mike @ MHH

by Mike @ MHH on Jan 23, 2008 8:08 AM MST reply actions

First goal

Did you see exactly how the first goal got past Theo? All the angles that FSN showed didn't really indicate where precisely the puck went through. Did it go between his arm and his body again? I have a feeling it did.

by Joe Dunman on Jan 23, 2008 10:06 AM MST up reply actions

It looked like

he got beat over his blocker with a high corner shot. That's his left side, against the grain as he moved from his left to his right. I've seen the replay and he was a tad deep (right at the top of his crease) for a shot from the blueline. He started deep in his crease even though the Preds hadn't really gotten the puck that far into the zone before passing back to the point. Then Theo tracked the puck as it moved quickly from the left point the right, but he was still at the same depth and didn't challenge out any more. If he was out about another foot, he may have gotten the blocker on that shot.

Mike @ MHH

by Mike @ MHH on Jan 23, 2008 10:13 AM MST up reply actions

Re: It looked like

Yeah, I could definitely tell that the problem was positional. It almost always is when a big slapper from the point goes in.

by Joe Dunman on Jan 23, 2008 10:17 AM MST up reply actions

Goalie

How about not starting your goalie in back-to-back games too. In that SE trip Theo started all 3 games in a stretch where they had 3 games in four days. Not surprisingly his worst game (Florida) was the back end of a back-to-back.

And yes, Theo was pretty bad last night, but you hit the nail on the head, Q is mismanaging his goalies when he doesn't play the backup once in a while. I feel the starter should get anywhere from 75%-90% of the starts and the backup should get the rest.

Don't worry though, Theo had a bad game and the Avs lost, Budaj will be the "starter" next game. Theo might get one more game, maybe.

by Jibblescribbits on Jan 23, 2008 8:17 AM MST reply actions

Re: Goalie

I highly doubt that Theodore will play the next game.

by Joe Dunman on Jan 23, 2008 10:07 AM MST up reply actions

you gotta expect

games like this offensively from this team, with how dinged up they are. I'm ok with that, really.

But Theodore, wow. That was purely awful. There's no doubt that he's got more raw talent than Budaj, I'm convinced after this latest long look at his skills. But when one out of every 2, 3 or 4 games is just...horrible like this, you just can't even consider bringing him back or making him a permanent starter. Budaj, 4 out of every 5 games, rest of year, now.

Good points Joe, on tiring out goalies. While I doubt it was the only factor, it was certainly a factor.

by thedoctor on Jan 23, 2008 9:36 AM MST reply actions