Then the Avs get gifted a PP and make one of the sweetest passing combos and scores we have seen all season and I’ll fully acknowledge that Blackwood made a flurry of huge saves for us while watching Georgie crumble on the other end. No doubt, goaltending mattered in this one.

With that said, there we were though with only 8 minutes left slogging through another ugly game having put up only 1 goal against one of only two other teams that have given up more goals than the Avs this season and trotting out the league’s “worst goalie of all time.” Even after tying it up, we committed two penalties trying to give it back.

The special teams came through in the end, but the power plays we to end the first/start of 2nd and later in that period were extremely rough. They let Middlestat bring the puck up off the drop off and he did a complete mirror image turnover at the blueline that we see MacK committing. I do not think we got a shot on goal in either of those two PP opportunities.

I agree with everything Aarif said, but somewhat disagree with his critique of Kovenko. I thought he and Celibrini were the two best players on the ice in the second. Third period may not have worked out for him, but I thought he looked solid the entire game.

Like many others here, on ESPN + I choose to watch the opposing team’s broadcast. Jamal Meyers and his counterpart do a nice job for Shark’s fans. No bluster. They interviewed Kovalenko between 2nd and 3rd, in his still very broken English (I will never forgive Evan for ridiculing me on here about how Kovalenko spoke English because he was born in the USA, lol), he stated he was having much more fun at practice and in the games playing for the Sharks. It gave me the sense that the Avs’ locker-room is a tight place right now.

I expect another so-so effort again tonight and real danger of a loss.

Also related to the lineup: I really want Rantanen to continue playing on Mittelstadt’s wing – I think they will help unlocking each other, while MacKinnon always looks great with Nichushkin due to their combined freight train power. I also think we’ve arrived at the correct top power play – Colton can be absolutely deadly in the bumper spot, while Nichushkin is a menace at the net front. The best way to fix the power play is to keep it cohesive and consistent, with your best players in the best spots, so the coaches need to commit to this as their PP1.