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GDT: Canes v. Avs 2/8 7:00

A

andyt

Canes Moderator
Staff member
Another tough Western Confernece team as the Canes face off with their social media besties.

If there was one bright spot from Tuesday, it’s that opportunities were there for the Canes, despite playing poorly for the better part of the first 2 periods. The offensive special teams were good, going 1 for 2 on the PP, but it was offset by a poor performance by the defensive special teams, allowing 2 PP goals while scoring a shorty. The lines in practice yesterday had Jarvis and Martinook swapped but the other 2 lines were as they started, rather than how they finished. Svech was still in yellow, so he’s still out tonight. The team is supposed to practice tomorrow, so that will determine if he plays on Saturday. Does RBA let Kochetkov get a little run going in goal?

The Avs stumbled coming out of the break, losing in OT to the Rangers on Monday and to the Devils, 5-3 on Tuesday. So this is their 3rd in 4 nights as they’re halfway through an Eastern Conference swing. They’re tied with Dallas atop the Central Division with 68 points in 51 games. If Connor McDavid isn’t the best player in the league, Nathan MacKinnon probably is. He’s 2nd in points and assists, tied for 4th in goals. Mikko Rantanen is 9th in goals, Cale Makar is tied for 4th in assists. But with Valeri Nichushkin in the Player Assistsnce program, they’re pretty top heavy. Behind MacKinnon and Rantanen the next highest goal scorer is Logan O’Connor and Makar each with 13. Behind MacKinnon, Makar and Rantanen, they only have 3 others with at least 20 assists. Like the Canes, they’re not getting great goaltending. They’ve used 3 goalies this year, all have a save % below .900. Alexandar Georgiev has started 41 games, he’s at 2.88/.899. Ivan Prosvetov had been the backup but he was sent to the AHL on Saturday and Justus Annunen was recalled. Annunen started his 2nd game of the season in New Jersey on Tuesday and gave up 4 goals on 30 shots. We should see Georgiev tonight. The Avs are 2nd in the league in goals per game, just behind Vancouver. They’re 18th in goals against. Their special teams are good, they’re 9th on the PP, 8th on the PK.

Black jerseys tonight. Bally Sports South for TV.
 
Colorado is in the tricky business of trying to build a support crew year to year to prop up their small core of superstar level players. When they get the mix right, they're absolutely electric, but this year has been a bit of a down one for their support crew. Losing Nichushkin hasn't helped, and O'Connor and Toews are the only real standouts from the "rest of the roster." MacKinnon, Rantanen and Makar are so bloody good that the Avs are still contenders to win a Division at a minimum. So there's that.

Also though ... if you look at Game Score, Aho is the only Hurricane in the same zip code as Colorado's big three. So this is a nasty matchup just trying to keep that top line in check. They're likely gonna get their goals, so the Canes need to try to starve them of possession and pepper whoever they prop up in net. Carolina REALLY needs to avoid letting this devolve into a special teams battle like we saw on Tuesday. First, the Avs are better at that stuff and second, you're not gonna get the calls.
 
They’re also missing Landeskog for the 2nd season. He hasn’t played since the Avs beat the Bolts in the 2022 Finals.
 
andyt said:
They’re also missing Landeskog for the 2nd season. He hasn’t played since the Avs beat the Bolts in the 2022 Finals.
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The $7 million in LTIR he's giving them isn't nothing though. Sounds like the guy might not end up playing again, which sucks.
 
jeffbear said:
The $7 million in LTIR he's giving them isn't nothing though. Sounds like the guy might not end up playing again, which sucks.
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Cartilage replacement surgery? I hope it works, if for no other reason than knee issues suck in regular life.
 
andyt said:
Cartilage replacement surgery? I hope it works, if for no other reason than knee issues suck in regular life.
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Yeah, apparently it's not that far off what they tried with Sam Mewis ... unsuccessfully. It depends on a lot of factors, obviously. Lonzo Ball is rehabbing after the same kind of thing.
 
andyt said:
Svech is still out, Kochetkov in goal.
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20 games missed and counting this year and that unfortunate season ending injury last year…this guy is much more important in the lineup every night and you gotta hope at some point these injuries slow down, too valuable to miss this much time.
 
Pesce out due to illness. Orlov moves up with Skjei and TDA is with Chatfield. DeAngelo hasn’t played since January 5.
 
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