Avalanche Game Four Plus/Minus: A No Show, Makar Mistakes

It’s time for playoff plus/minus! As with every game, you take the good with the bad, so time to take a look at the pluses and the minuses in Game Four against the Dallas Stars for the Colorado Avalanche.

Not much pleasant to talk about from this one…

– A No Show

The Avalanche were hit with a double whammy of bad news in the hours leading up to the game. I certainly understand it would be tough to mentally recover from hearing you aren’t getting Valeri Nichushkin back for at least six months, and then to be hit by the news of no Devon Toews, but come on. That first period was just brutal. I’ve been covering this team through the entire Jared Bednar era, and I’m trying to think of a worse period that this team has played, especially considering what was at stake.

I’m not sure I can. It was just that bad.

Even though it was only 1-0 after one, the game felt over. The crowd didn’t know how to react to the news, and the team certainly didn’t. It seemed like once the score hit 3-0, the team kind of snapped out of it, but by then, it was too late. The damage was done, and the Stars cruised to a victory.

– Cale Makar

Speaking of poor first periods, holy cow. That one had to be up there for Cale Makar in terms of worst periods he’s played in the NHL.

“I feel like a few of those are definitely on me,” Makar said after the game.

Now, it’s important to keep in mind that Makar rarely gives himself credit but is quick to blame himself when things don’t go right, even if it’s not completely his fault. That being said, he might be right here.

On the first goal, he tried to challenge Wyatt Johnston and just had the puck taken off his stick. To make matters worse, instead of trying to cover someone up, he went to block it, didn’t, and Johnston was left alone in front. Late in the first, Makar had a brutal turnover on the breakout (to Johnston, of course) that nearly led to another goal against.

On the third goal, he went back to get the puck and seemed way more worried about laying the wood on Logan Stankoven than getting the puck to his teammate. He definitely rocked Stankoven, but in the process, whiffed on his pass to Sean Walker, who had to eat the puck along the boards. The Stars got the puck back and eventually scored just a few seconds later.

Makar finished with eight shot attempts at even strength, but the problem is that only one of them got through. The Stars have neutralized him as best as they can through the last three games, and that’s one reason why they’ve taken a big lead in the series.

– Caleb Jones

Thrust into a very difficult spot, Jones floundered immediately, taking two penalties in the first 25 minutes of the game. The second one proved to be very costly, as the Stars put on a show with the man advantage and extended their lead.

– Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen

Speaking of neutralizing, the Stars have managed to really slow down and almost eliminate the two best players on the Avalanche. That’s quite the feet. Rantanen and MacKinnon have combined for just two points over the last three games, and while their on-ice numbers were strong again on Monday night, a lot of that came when the game was pretty much out of reach. Every time one of these guys gets the puck, it seems like Esa Lindell or Chris Tanev are there to take away their time and space.

In the second period, MacKinnon had a rush up the ice where he looked determined to cut to the net. Lindell stuck with him, gave him a nudge, and forced a perimeter shot, which Oettinger was easily able to swallow. For the most part, they’re being held to the outside. You aren’t ever going to completely shut down a guy like Nathan MacKinnon, but they’ve gotten pretty darn close.

There was a moment in the third period where 5’8″ Logan Stankoven ran over the much bigger Mikko Rantanen. Those are the types of moments where you just wonder what the heck is going on here. At no point in this series has Rantanen really looked like himself, and there will be questions heading into the summer, as he can sign an extension on July 1. I already know that’s a point of contention for a lot of fans…

+ Drouin Returns

If nothing else, I’m happy Jonathan Drouin was able to get back in the lineup and play a postseason game. He deserved that after all the hard work he put in during the regular season. He definitely looked like a guy who hadn’t played in a month, but still managed to pick up an assist on the only goal of the game for the Avalanche.

+ Alexandar Georgiev

This game could have been 4-0 after one, but Georgiev did what he could to hold his team in it. In no way did the Avalanche deserve to be down just 1-0 after 20 minutes, but they were. The problem is that they didn’t exactly come out with any more jump in the second period, which led to the Stars stepping on their throats. By the time Wyatt Johnston scored his second goal of the game, the shots were 22-4. I didn’t love the third goal, but this one isn’t on Georgiev, that’s for sure.

– The Camera Work

At the game, I didn’t see this stuff, but watching the highlights, the ESPN broadcast looked like amateur hour. No one can even see what happened on the third goal, because the camera was either too zoomed in or the guy just wasn’t paying attention to the play. How is the major rights holder for the NHL able to put on such an ugly broadcast?

– Is It Over?

It feels like it’s over, but it’s not really over until that final buzzer sounds for the fourth win of the series. Everyone knows the Avalanche aren’t nearly as good a team without Valeri Nichushkin. I’ve seen stranger things happen, but man, this seems like an impossible hill to climb. I’ll be interested to see what the mood of the team is at practice today, because that locker room last night was a real downer.