Game 40: Avalanche 2, Predators 1

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Jan 7, 2009 9:16 AM MST in Game Recaps Comment 49 comments

The Avs win a season series...and find a new center

Hejduk, Wolski and friends engage in a well-deserved man hug

Photo Courtesy John Russell (Getty)

Final - 1.6.2009	1	2	3	Total
Colorado Avalanche	1	1	0	2
Nashville Predators	1	0	0	1

Complete Coverage >

Sakic. Stastny. Laperriere. McCormick. Guite. Five of the six centers the Avs started the season with were out last night due to injury or illness. With all those pivot men on the shelf, the Avalanche went with old standby Tyler Arnason along with Philippe Dupuis, TJ Hensick and, on the top line, Wojtek Wolski.

It worked out okay. Wolski had six of the Avs' 21 shots and scored both of Colorado's goals as the Avs edged out the Predators 2-1. The Wolski experiment has only been running for two games, but so far it looks like a hit; Double Dub looks infinitely more comfortable playing up the middle. On both goals, he went hard to the net and was ready when Milan Hejduk fed him two beauties of passes from the left wing boards. It's still early, but so far it looks like this one is going to be a good move.

Andrew Raycroft got the start in net, and won again to improve to 7-1 which will no doubt throw some more wood on the smoldering goalie controversy fire. Raycroft wasn't exceptional, but he didn't have to be. His defense - even without Adam Foote - played excellent in front of him all night. They blocked all kinds of shots (23) and got the puck out of the zone quickly. It was one of the better defensive performances of the year for the team. Razor also got a little lucky, with at least 3 shots hitting iron behind him. He got the win, though, and that's what matters. It's hard to rain on the parade of a guy who is 7-1.

The good news is that Wolski's line looked great, the defense looked solid, and the PK was extremely effective. Also, although there weren't a lot of hits recorded officially (just 13 for Colorado), it seemed like the Avs were committed to finishing checks throughout the lineup, even guys like Hensick who normally don't dig that sort of thing. The bad news? Offensively, it was slim pickin's after the first line. Smyth, Wolksi and Hejduk accounted for more than half of Colorado's shots. Philippe Dupuis had 3 shots. The other 8 forwards? 3. Ouch.

Lines

Apparently, Ben Guite is sick, which is why the Avs had to call up (and play) Dupuis. To make room for Dupuis, the Avs had to place either Laperriere or Foote on the IR, and Foote got the nod. That means he'll at least miss the next two games.

ITCS Report

Quick Hits

The six players who missed the game last night have a combined salary cap number of $11.9 million - 22% of the team's total cap this year.
The Avs won the season series against the Predators 3-1 with and outscored them 10-5 on the season. Head to head matchups are one of the tie breakers for the standings.
For the 3rd time this year, Jordin Tootoo drew a penalty when an Avalanche dropped his gloves and he refused to oblige. This time, it was Cody McLeod. You guys DO watch the games, right?

Video Highlights

Next Up

Game 41 is Thursday, with the 'Stachehawks visiting Denver.

Other Recaps

Andrew Raycroft's goals-against average and save percentage still aren't impressive, but his record sure is.After the veteran goalie had 22 saves in Colorado's 2-1 victory over Nashville on Tuesday, and was especially staunch when the Predators could have taken command in the first period, Raycroft is 7-1 for the season and again seemingly helping create an, ahem, "goaltending controversy." - Terry Frei, Denver Post

This is what Avalanche coach Tony Granato had in mind when, as the injuries mounted, he decided to give Wojtek Wolski a shot at centering Colorado's first line between Ryan Smyth and Milan Hejduk. - Terry Frei, Denver Post

A center for much of his junior career, the 22-year-old Wolski appears ready to make the transition from left wing as the Avalanche tries to find a suitable replacement for Sakic and Stastny. - Aaron J Lopez, Rocky Mountain News

Wolski most recently scored two goals in a game Nov. 29, 2008, against Tampa Bay - AP

In other injury news, Stastny, who had surgery on his broken right forearm Dec. 30, has resumed workouts at the team's practice facility, but Granato said he still is expected to be out until at least mid-February. - Aaron J Lopez, Rocky Mountain News

Nashville lost its fifth straight. The team has scored just seven goals in that stretch and sits at the bottom of the Western Conference with just 94 goals this season. - Jessica Bliss, Tenesseean

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Comments

Just me?

I really thought the Avs played really bad last night, and were bailed out by Nashville’s inability to score goals, the excellent play of Wolski, Heduk and Smyth, and 4 posts (by my count).

The fact that they came out so poorly (they didn’t even have a shot in the first 10 minutes. How they were given credit for 7 in the first period blows my mind) signals poor coaching and preperation to me, especially to a team we’ve seen a lot of this season and after 2 days rest.

Maybe I’m just cranky

I believe in Peter Budaj

by Jibblescribbits on Jan 7, 2009 9:35 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

they played terrible for a good 10-15 minutes. and then they killed off that McLeod penalty and, just as McNab said they would, they picked it up quite a bit, especially defensively. offensively, it was kind of a dud all night for the Avs other than Wolski and friends

Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Jan 7, 2009 9:42 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

although I am sure you are, indeed, cranky

Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Jan 7, 2009 9:45 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Eh

I didn’t think they played all that well in the second period either. I thought they played ok in the third.

I believe in Peter Budaj

by Jibblescribbits on Jan 7, 2009 9:56 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I think we’re going to need to arm wrestle to settle this

Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Jan 7, 2009 10:01 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Nope

Dance-off

I believe in Peter Budaj

by Jibblescribbits on Jan 7, 2009 10:06 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Can I pick the song?
Lady Humps by the Black Eyed Peas

by JonHaven on Jan 7, 2009 10:13 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

talk about being right in my wheel house

Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Jan 7, 2009 10:20 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

You have no idea

I’m ready to Bust a move (That song’s still hip.. right!?!)

I believe in Peter Budaj

by Jibblescribbits on Jan 7, 2009 11:08 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

WRONG.

Colorado Avalanche: Gellin' and Propellin'!!!

by Mike @ MHH on Jan 7, 2009 12:01 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I think they lucked out last night. I don’t know if we exceeded the cap space we have hiring on the goal posts and the cross bars last night, but they saved Raycroft’s bacon. They were lucky to get out of that first period with only 1 goal against them. This is the same start they had against the Wild, but the Wild is a much better team so the result was different. They did pick it up in the 2nd and 3rd periods. 60 minutes boys – you gotta play it!

However, they won which is awesome because we sure needed it!! It is nice when the luck flows our way and the other team can’t find the net.

Wolski sure is eating up that first line!!

by hockeymom on Jan 7, 2009 9:45 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

Granato should be fired for, among other things, not making Wolski a top 2 line center much sooner.

MHH: Shagging Dater one contributor at a time.

by Bob in Boulder on Jan 7, 2009 9:48 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

well, I think we should fine Quenneville retroactively for refusing to do it

Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Jan 7, 2009 9:49 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

In Q’s defense, he had Sakic, Stastny, Guite as his top 3 centers not counting Forsberg. I think he thought highly of Wolski’s skill and was trying to find a way to keep him up on a decent line?

by JonHaven on Jan 7, 2009 10:07 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

except when wolski was being a healthy scratch for no good reason yet Arnason was still playing despite having not scored a goal since the Clinton administration.

by InYoFace on Jan 7, 2009 10:28 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

That I can’t explain. Front office pressure to keep him in the lineup to try to deal him later is the only non-drug related explanation I can provide.

by JonHaven on Jan 7, 2009 10:31 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Giguere is in the DP today

crying about how hard it is to make a trade with his team up against the cap. Gosh, it sure would be nice to not have Darcy Tucker or his $2.2M salary right now.

by JonHaven on Jan 7, 2009 10:04 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

in his defense, the issue isn’t so much the Avs lack of cap space, but the space of other teams. or, at least that’s how I read it.

Hyphens cause writers more trouble than any other form of punctuation, except perhaps commas.

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Jan 7, 2009 10:20 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

i did too, and he’s right.

by thedoctor on Jan 7, 2009 10:26 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

To an extent, but I would hypothesize that most deals involve players of similar cap hits anyway, so I think GM’s use that as a much bigger excuse than it is. Sure, the Avalanche can’t bring in Ovechkin for Svatos, but I don’t believe cap space stops reasonable deals as much as advertised.

There are plenty of teams in the NHL who are unhappy with players at similar pay grades that deals could get done .

by JonHaven on Jan 7, 2009 10:30 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

According to NHL numbers, there are 15 teams with $2M or more under the cap, which isn’t a lot but does leave, IMHO, plenty of dance partners for reasonable deals to get done.

by JonHaven on Jan 7, 2009 10:34 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

it’s worth noting that organizations are really into this building internally philosophy now. even for teams with the space, they just don’t want to trade a guy that could bloom elsewhere and make them look stupid.

by thedoctor on Jan 7, 2009 10:39 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree. If that’s the case with the Avs, fine, but then say so, Giguere. I don’t like half assed excuses.

by JonHaven on Jan 7, 2009 10:44 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

well, it goes both ways. I’m sure that FG is inquiring about trades. but the other teams don’t want to be the ones to look stupid.

trades are really quite pointless for us unless it’s a franchise type player — a luongo or a bouwmeester. the coaching needs an overhaul first. TG and Cloutier need to both begone.

by thedoctor on Jan 7, 2009 10:53 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I wish Nashville would give up on that Shea Weber guy. He sucks. But then the Avs could have him as a rebuilding project. It should take a practice or two before he’s our #1 D-man.

Svats, Hensick, Clark, Arny for Weber and a 7th round pick. This needs to happen.

Colorado Avalanche: Gellin' and Propellin'!!!

by Mike @ MHH on Jan 7, 2009 12:04 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Agree sort of

True other teams don’t have cap space, but that leaves the avs at an advantage, not a disadvantage. There are good players out there that teams want to trade away but there’s only a handful of suiters. The Avs are one of those suiters.Sure they can’t trade Clark away very easily, but they have the room to pick up valuable guys

The real issue is that the Avs disadvantage is that they won’t trade for those salaries because they want to pickup a certain Swede. There’s still players out there right now who will help that FG doesn’t even have to trade for (Bredan Shanahan and Yannick Perrault).

I believe in Peter Budaj

by Jibblescribbits on Jan 7, 2009 11:11 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Does my post about NEEDING No Panic Yannick not resound even more with the last month of play?

Man, I’m good!

Colorado Avalanche: Gellin' and Propellin'!!!

by Mike @ MHH on Jan 7, 2009 12:05 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

But Jibs,

by Pookie on Jan 7, 2009 12:37 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

oops

that certain Brendan guy you’re talking about used to be with the Red Wings during the rivalry heyday. I’ll apologize in advance and say I actually like the guy (especially since becoming a Ranger) but I don’t know if he’d join the Avs, especially with the Avs’ semi-anti-winning ways these days.

by Pookie on Jan 7, 2009 12:39 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Well

Well if he could get Tucker to be a healthy scratch, all would be forgiven (and I don’t like him at all).

And he would come here, because no one else wants to give him a job, for whatever reason.

I believe in Peter Budaj

by Jibblescribbits on Jan 7, 2009 1:59 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Okay, agreed then,

on the part about getting Tucker to be a healthy scratch! We’ll take Shanny, as long as Joe doesn’t come up with any embarrassing pics of him, like he did with Yzerman.

by Pookie on Jan 7, 2009 2:30 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

thanks for teaching me how to post pics here!

by Pookie on Jan 7, 2009 2:49 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

im not quite on...

the “Wolski is the future #2 center we’ve been needing” bandwagon yet, but last night was a big positive. the biggest deal was that Wolski looked more effective than he has for literally years. If having him play center is what that takes, then he should stay there.

I’m still pretty frustrated with Hensick’s play. How can he be this ineffective with all that speed and talent? Also Svatos needs to start doing something — we NEED goals, now is the time. Of course playing with the black hole isn’t helping either. On the other hand, I like Stewart more every game. Weird how that’s worked out between him and Hensick.

by thedoctor on Jan 7, 2009 10:32 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

So far so good, but I’m not buying stock yet.

by JonHaven on Jan 7, 2009 10:34 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I sold my Hensick stock sometime last season. I’m still holding on to Jones and Stewart. But for the love of Roy, when will the Arnason and Tucker bailout end?

MHH: Shagging Dater one contributor at a time.

by Bob in Boulder on Jan 7, 2009 11:26 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

At least Arnason is gone after this year. We have 124 more games of Tucker.

by JonHaven on Jan 7, 2009 11:51 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Here’s a clue for FG: Being bought out by one of the worst teams in the league is not a good thing. Sheesh!

MHH: Shagging Dater one contributor at a time.

by Bob in Boulder on Jan 7, 2009 12:08 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Like I said in my season preview

For Melt your face off) The Avs are becoming the island of misfit Maple Leafs.

I believe in Peter Budaj

by Jibblescribbits on Jan 7, 2009 2:00 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Just A Question

Is there any chance Svats was also a center in junior and could be converted to spark him? That would be awesome.

Red Wings Suck

by texacogirl on Jan 7, 2009 2:35 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Looking at the picture in the post

My first thought was “That’s how we win, play teams whose goalies face the wrong way!”

Colorado Avalanche: Gellin' and Propellin'!!!

by Mike @ MHH on Jan 7, 2009 12:10 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

I’m sure you know that from experience.

The Savage - Game Thread Leader and King Of The World

"Two roads divurged in a wood, and I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference"
R. Frost

by Savage33 on Jan 7, 2009 4:53 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

“I learned it from watching you, all right, I learned it from watching you!”

Colorado Avalanche: Gellin' and Propellin'!!!

by Mike @ MHH on Jan 8, 2009 3:56 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

His defense – even without Adam Foote – played excellent in front of him all net.

Apart from the ‘net’ mistake, I also feel that the Avs defense, admittedly good, didn’t have a tough job with Nashville being unable to shoot to save their lives.

26 Card Jet

by Tommelot on Jan 7, 2009 12:23 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

My game analysis

Nashville proved to be the slower paint to dry.

MHH: Shagging Dater one contributor at a time.

by Bob in Boulder on Jan 7, 2009 12:31 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

My guess at the dueling paints – sunshine yellow and marigold

Red Wings Suck

by texacogirl on Jan 7, 2009 2:37 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

However, at the same time, I find it odd that the Avs defense plays better without Foote in the line-up. When he went in the DL after the infamous “hit from behind” then D seemed to step up in his absence…then went back to being the same holy cheese product it had been for much of the year. Scary??

by chiavsfan on Jan 7, 2009 1:54 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

game analysis

We went to the game and after the first 15 minutes thought we had thrown away our money. Raycroft was VERY lucky with the number of times the puck bounced off a post or another player and didn’t go into the net. He was floundering like a fish out of water through most of the first period (we had a great view behind the net). I think the scorekeepers padded the shots on goal in the first period for the Avs.

Stewart and Jones looked pretty good. Defense played pretty well in the zone, although not spectacular which fortunately wasn’t required. Mostly it was the Wolski-Hejduk-Smyth show, which was fine with us and made the drive from Huntsville to the game worth it.

by spongeymonkey on Jan 7, 2009 2:13 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Huntsville? I grew up in Decatur an my parents and sister are still there. Got tons of family in Nashville too, but not that I’d like to remember. :-)

by Mrs @ MHH on Jan 7, 2009 2:22 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs