Game 38 Recap: Avs Play Not to Lose...and Lose

Gonna do a stream of consciousness recap tonight. Gotta get some sleep...
Redmond the scratch, BJ's on back end of B-2-B

First Period:

Backup goalie Curtis McElhinney net for BJ's.  Must be nice to have one of those at the NHL level.

30 seconds in, giveaway by David Savard to Jarome Iginla in the middle of the slot and he buries it glove-side low for a quick 1-0 lead.

3 minutes later, Iggy loses his shadow and Radar has a sweet takeaway and feeds him in the slot for a miss.

Nice 2-man forecheck giving the BJ's fits for a bit here.

About 7 minutes in and the BJ's get their first good shots on Varlamov, through a screen and then a good look in the slot, but Varly fought them off.  Then a quick TO just outside the blueline leads to a psuedo-breakaway and the wristshot goes wide.

Guenin loses his twig and BJ's get a few good chances.

Has Varly ever given up a wraparound?

Looks like we wasted money on the firewood this year.  This crap sucks.  Just smolders and smokes. Needs constant attention or it embers to nothing, kinda like foreplay, am I right fellas?

Mini-me has joined me on the coach wearing his new #29 jersey. And now he's trying to convince his bro to play some football/soccer hybrid in the hallway.

MacK gets called for holding. Superfan 29 is bummed.   BJ's #1 PP goes to work.  Varly save, cleared immediately.  Some possession after a faceoff on a dump and cover, but even with Radar having a broken stick, the puck is cleared.

Just after it's over, a few rims around before Cody Goloubef (seriously) gets a wide shot from the wall and Brandon Dubinsky tips one out of midair to send it past Varly to tie it up.

It's all Columbus now.  Lots of shots, lots of possession.

Goalie Notes:  Varly using the reverse VH on his stick side post. Good coverage.

And the garbage disposal is leaking like a sieve...Guess who gets to meet the plumber tomorrow!?!?!?!

According to the Altidudes, the Avs have gone over 12 minutes without a shot.

More Columbus possession and an icing...

Holden can't handle Nick Foligno. Bounces off of him like a Foligno is Baymax.

Now 14 minutes without a shot and the BJ's take an o-zone penalty due to a high stick from Sean Collins so that we can all see the horror of the Avalanche power play in 2015.  The Can has gone silent.  Not a lot to cheer about except for an Iggy behind-the-back chance to Radar that doesn't connect.

Lot of passing, not a lot of substance before Borna Rendulic get tired of it and takes a shot that misses. Half of the penalty gone and zip to show for it.  Ryan O`Reilly tips a bullet pass out of play.

Radar loses the faceoff and it is cleared.  More futility and it's cleared.  No shots on the PP.

Just then John Mitchell gets a break and feeds Nathan MacKinnon on the doorstep and he shoots it straight into McElhinney's glove for the save.

Total discombobulation when Varly plays the puck.  Avs can't get anything going.

Cliche and Talbot go in 2-on-1 and Cliche dumps it into the corner.  Oy vey.

Matt Duchene and Landy work some east-west play for a routine shot on goal that the netminder sees the whole way.  Why not pass-off-pads?

Not a ton to report other than at least it isn't a shutout. Shots are 11-3. Rycroft breaks down the Iggy goal cuz frankly, there isn't a lot of other stuff to talk about.

Fixed the boys some homemade vanilla ice cream with crushed Whoppers on it.  For some reason they start making up an Avalanche theme song.  Mrs. is trying to get a recording...The older one's is decidedly more metal than the 4-year-old's.

Second period:

About 90 seconds in and Stuart and Duchene forget Dubinsky exists and a wacky bounce off the boards goes right to him and he buries his second of the night to make it 2-1 visitors.  Bad for Avs, good for my fantasy team.

Looks like McLeod dinged his shoulder on the forecheck. Stays out even after the puck-out-of-play whistle though.

Soft dumps up the boards don't work in the offensive zone either!! WHO KNEW!!!!

Duchene has a puck come right to him in the slot and he get nothing on it.  Like a negative one-timer as it squirts all the way out of the zone.

A couple of seconds later and Landy powers through the defenseman along the far-side boards, picks up his one chip pass and drives the net.  He one-moves the goalie and wraps it in on the backhand for the tying goal. Pretty sweet hands on that gorgeous man.

Seconds later and a weird bounce lands at Varly's feet, but he handles it and Mitchell has words and shoves for Jared Boll as he whacks away at Varly's pads and stomach like they're a pinata.

My minions are getting washed up with dueling showers.  Let's see who cracks under the pressure of cooling water...

Then a blocked shot springs about 87% of a pass from Radar to Alex Tanguay who gets a clean break but whips the puck off the crossbar and out of play. He had the goalie beat like a rented mule too. I blame the return to the half-shield, personally.

BJ's with some sustained possession and doing a good job activating their points.  Rendulic loses his lumber and starts just throwing his body at the puck. Shot eventually off the iron and out.

On the faceoff and the Avs are puck-watching and MacKinnon leaves his man in the slot and Hartnell passes to a wide-open Marcus Johansen in the far side slot for the tap-in goal.  3-2 Columbus.

Next shift down the ice and the Avs draw a penalty as a Cody-on-Cody crime results in an interference call.

And the 4-year-old bails on the cold shower first.

Avs generate 4 shots on the PP and McElhinney makes a diving Last Son of Krypton attempt but the post bails him out on Iggy's point blank give-and-go from Tanguay.

Yes, let's talk about the shootout some more...

A Duchene shot!! They're like unicorns you guys!!!

Maybe Guenin has heard about our little charity pledge cuz he's throwing everything on net.

Johnson shoots it out of play for another Avs power play. It's fucking brutal as Tyson Barrie single-highhandedly generates two separate two-on-ones with stupid decisions.  And then the Avs dust off a rare part of the rulebook by throwing a stick into play.  Iggy goes to the box for some 4-on-4 time.

Some back and forth and Hejda is on an island with Foligno but Jan handles his biz-ness.

Sounds like ANOTHER TMNT story for the youngest tonight.  Kids have bought into the new show hook line and sinker. Booya-kachow!!

The MacK forecheck generates a great chance that Stuart can't do anything with in front.  Avs kill off the short penalty and the line of Iggy, Radar, and Tangs do some good work moving the puck and getting rubber on net after Iggy exits the bin.

The first black President encourages me to pledge to the USO during the commercial break.

The replay coming out of the break reveals that Barrie may have been responsible for asking for two sticks on the bench and that's why somebody threw one at him.  Good night for Tyson.

Both boys headed to bed.  Youngest likes to fake like he's asleep to see if I'll pass on the tickle hugs and scratchy kisses, but I pinned him to the pillow and nom-nomed his neck till he squealed.  Big brother comes in and they stiff-arm each other to keep the other from doing anything other than long-range hugging.  Then I catch him making faces in the mirror instead of brushing his teeth.

Oh, hey Danny Briere!

A weird wraparound that somehow pops OVER McElhinney's pad nets McLeod the tying goal.  He then almost punches a ref while celebrating. Not quite a Gordie Howe Hat Trick there, Cody.

Off the center-ice drop and Matt Duchene pings his lead-leading 300th post.  Hope they saved the puck for him.

Gabriel Landeskog runs somebody and Boll tries to retaliate, but Landy moves the puck. Because the Avs can't clear anything, it somehow ends up on James Wisniewski's stick and Varly has to make a screened save on the point shot.

MacK has a good rush but he, Mitchell, and Talbot can't seem to quite connect and bury a good chance when the goalie loses sight of the puck.

Some good possession and point work by the Jackets forces Varly to push out of the VH for a bad angle shot and save.

Goalie Note: Varly is tracking a lot of pucks into his body tonight, which is good.

Now they're trading chances.  I know cuz McNabb told me so. Barrie skates the puck through his own crease while under pressure and I can hear it in Sunnyside's voice that he thought that was a dumb move.  Are we sure Barrie is OK?  Maybe he's got the mumps? No that can't be it, abject stupidity isn't a symptom...

Some clenching time for Columbus in the waning seconds, but not much to show.  Erik Johnson seems to be everywhere in the last 5 minutes.

Avs have caught up in the shots department as they're 23-22 for CBJ.

Sounds like the eldest is being forced to slog through his current chapter book to prepare for an AR test later this week.

McLeod gives tons of credit to "Clicher" for his work on the tying goal.

Third Period:

Rendulic steals the puck from the goalie on the forecheck and we get three or four good chances but the last step just isn't there to bury it in the net as the Jackets are running around all over the place.

Another Duchene shot!

I like how the Avs' D holds onto the puck to courteously allow the BJ's to make a wholesale change.  So nice.

Both boys in bed now.  And...the fire is out.

Evgeni dipsy-doodles and puts MacK offsides.

Johnson with a HAMMER in close, but McElhinney gloves the shot as it goes wide.

This top line with 9, 92, and 71 looks good on these O-zone draws when they control the puck.

Stuart ices the puck, sorta. Timeout? No.

CBJ top line goes to work, but we get a clear.

MacKinnon gets hooked on a far side drive before getting a shot off.  Johansen clenched up pretty hard when Nathan's legs started churning. About 12:40 left in the game.

After a weird 2-on-2 the other way, MacKinnon goes 1-on-4 and gets a shot off.

This powerplay is just so stagnant.  Nobody is working to get open and the points aren't trying to compress the box.  2 shots, but nothing to show.  0-4 on the man advantage.

Lots of sloppy hockey coming out of the power play.  Blocked passes, blocked shots, bleh.

Varly makes a nice glove save on a low shot that's labelled for the left pad.

MacK zips up ice and gets a shot, and a rebound shot after pulling up and waiting for a screen. 9 minutes left.

Guenin trips Calvert in the near corner to put the league's best PP on the ice.

Sunnyside doing his best to jinx the PK.  Foligno and Hartnell starting shit with Tanguay.  Real tough guys there.

Jesus McNabb shut the fuck up! PING!!!!!

Just under 6 minutes left. Mrs. is playing Candy Crush even though science has documented that screen time this close to bed will kill her.

My horse dog just put himself to bed.

Talbot almost gets a break but it's juuuuuuuust out of his reach.

Long dump by Columbus gets called icing only because Hejda hustled because Nick Holden could not give two shits or even a single shit.

Duchene shows off his 48" vertical leap trying to stop a high glass clear after losing an o-zone draw.

Dear Altitude, If the Avs are actively trying to get to overtime with over 4 minutes left in the game, they deserve to lose.

Mitchell, MacK and Talbot work some magic but it doesn't quite get to MacKinnon on the backside doorstep.  Good pass breakup by McElhinney's left toe.

Radar tips an Iggy shot out of play.

Johnson races Hartnell and puts him in the wall but a quick centering pass and blueline shot from Savard tips off of either Duchene or Rendulic and gets past Varly. 4-3 Jackets. Well that strategy worked perfectly...

Avs win the center-ice draw with Varly on the bench and get a good bang-bang play in front of the net to get the draw in the o-zone.

Radar, Landy, Tanguay, Iggy Johnson, and Barrie out there. Lots of wall work and a couple of blocked shots and we're looking at another loss.  At least we won the shots category though (29-27).

McNabb and Co. can only lament the lost opportunity to get to overtime. We're gonna go watch the Preds/Ducks OT.

MHH Three Stars:

#3 - Erik Johnson
#2 - Jarome Iginla
#1 - Gabriel Landeskog

Next Game is at Chi-town on Tuesday night at 6:30 Mountain.