Nathan MacKinnon unlocks the Avalanche top line in win over LA Kings | DNVR Avalanche Postgame

0:00It's so late, but the app's won, so I'm not tired, you're tired. Oh, welcome in to the NVR Apple Winch podcast slash post game show live from the extended studio coming to you for an app's win, Bailey and Ruto. I wish it wasn't so late, but the app's still won. So at least that's keeping me awake and getting me through this show. Yep. Look, a game that was extremely frustrating at times, but that's fine. It's not ideal for the first game of back to back, like that's what I settle on is the early start happens and you think, all right, cool, we can maybe see this team get ahead of a game for the first time since the break, maybe start off on the right foot going into

1:02the second game tomorrow in Anaheim, which travels on your side, but there's a lot that I would have liked to have seen as far as saving legs go in this one. Definitely. Apps could have capitalized a little bit sooner to set themselves up better for the future. I think that's totally fair. I think there are also some things out of the apps control that maybe made that harder for them to will get into all of that. Let's hit the 60 second rundown first. First period, probably the best first period in a while for the apps, not that they haven't played good first periods, but they actually managed to score twice in this one, including the first goal of the game by none other than the man himself, Nathan McKinnon, great to see him, put one in the back of the net again, and then they follow it up with another goal from your top line, Landy, the one to put that one in, set, well, you're in a good spot. Unfortunately, you take a penalty and immediately get burned on the PK, the only penalty

2:04killed a night for the ads gets scored on five seconds in. Grant Clark just seems to do everything in these games. That makes it to one LA would tie it to two in the second period after a goal that got blown dead before it went in for the avalanche. And then in the third period, the apps would finally pull it out late. Another beautiful set up from McKinnon to Devon Taves for the game winner, and Marty Nages would score the empty netter for your four to final, and I skipped over a bunch of details that we're about to talk about now. Let's start roughly chronological here, Bailey. Apps go out and put together another quality five V5 performance in a first period. It actually get rewarded for it this time. Where do you strike the balance of, hey, the apps finish better, and Anton Forzberg just wasn't very good. He had some decent ones that I guess you can kind of come up with. It comes down to the finishing for me, absolutely.

3:05It's hard when you have a goal-tending performance like that, and there's not more of an initiative to take advantage of the big mistakes, whether that's, you know, wide shots or shooting straight to the chest, not setting yourself up for rebounds, whatever it might be. And he was giving up a lot of them. Just one of those things that makes you kind of clenched your jaw a little bit, and you're like, it's that much more frustrating in a game like this. Well, I mean, I think that's a through line for the avalanches, frustrations. Not necessarily for the last couple of games. I think there's some other things creeping into, but across the course of the season, one of the consistent things that has come back to not necessarily bite but frustrate is the lack of urgency at times from Colorado. There's a very obviously identifiable weakness in your opponent. Your goal, their goal tender is not having a good night, and it waited until the third period. It waited until, you know, there's 10 minutes left in a tie game for you to really turn

4:07up the wick and get this job done. How many times the season has that been the MO for this team too? And a fair concern. Yes, the abs are a good enough team that they can win by just dominating teams in the third period. But you know, you're not doing enough of things to set yourself up for success if you're not going into those third periods with a lead. So worth noting, I think that some of the frustration there does come from the abs own short comings. Again, they ended the game with like double LA shots and almost 40. It was fine. They got to where they needed to go. I'm not trying to be too salty about the abs here, but which would be valid if you were but. Right. Like they won and there's still a lot of things that maybe you didn't love or were frustrating. On the other hand, they also set themselves up for success in the first period. Those goals did go in. I can't call a game where the abs took technically two penalties because they had a matching

5:12four on four, a lack of discipline. But maybe does that shift the problem over to another game where the abs give up a goal on the penalty kill? That one. Yes, and no. This one was a weird one for me. I. Yeah. I don't know how much I felt the penalty kill really for this one. When the face off, that becomes easier, right? But it's just a really fluke kind of goal for me bounces off of burns and black would never see it. Yeah, never making that save, unfortunately. So like, yes, there are little things that you can do to keep that goal from happening. But I don't know is though that's a fault on the PK for me personally. Yeah. The goal itself, I don't know what you're supposed to do, but like, unfortunately, yes, it is attained. On the penalty kill. Like if you've given up a goal on the penalty kill all four games back now, like if you're looking at the technicalities, like, yes, that is another PK goal given up, but at the

6:13same time, like, there's context to it. And that's I guess I'm trying to see the silver lining here, but I think I don't know. Yeah. I don't think you take anything away from that power play for LA and say, oh, go fix this. It's just okay. What's that happen? Yeah. And if it wasn't, hey, the four straight game, it's happened and you wouldn't even think about it. No, just be like, all right. Not at all. To the next one. Yeah. That's a throw away at that point. Yeah. So I'm comfortable with that, but it is something to note in the book of abs penalty kill needs to find a way to be more effective on the other side of things. So I don't know for sticking chronologically. We don't have to. We could talk about this. Martin that's us. Yeah. Power play gold. Technically. Yeah. Um, I, I am having fun with it and being like, oh, they finally scored power play gold. Oh, but like, there's balance in the world.

7:16The other day that McCargole really should have been a power play goal and wasn't statistically. So that one going in is maybe a little bit of the scales, finding the correct spot and actually being like, no, you know, this one's obviously not a lot of value to it, but the stats better reflect the abs deserving of power play goal. Yeah. I, there have been a couple in this last four game stretch where I, I can see some of Bednar's reasoning and saying like the, the process here can be good. Nope. It is part of what makes this power play situation so frustrating. Um, they, they're doing well at balancing it out. Not all of them are great, but it, this just kind of seems like a, I, I, I don't want to put too much power on this power play goal. But at the same time, like if that's a way to get it started or like, you know, it's

8:16possible, you know, you know, how, how many times have we said that this season too? Like it, it's possible to score on the man advantage, even if it is an empty net, even if there's not as much challenge as you generally get in one of those goals. Like it's, it's a power play goal. And I feel like that's something they can sit there and look at and be like, all right, cool. It's got to help the mindset a little bit at least, right? Yeah. I know you know, it's not a real goal, but to see a goal counted with a pp next to it has got to be a little bit of a like, all right. It's one of those ones you look at, like after the season, you're like, huh, just a little bit. It's a wacky one for sure. Yeah. Yeah. And at this point, I'm willing to try anything to get the app power play on it. An empty net power play goal is what it takes. Great. Cool. Awesome. For sure, the, the most important goal of the game, if the app's power play, it starts playing it like 30% for the rest of the season, but we're not there yet.

9:21That's just me wishful thinking most likely, but maybe, maybe, uh, yeah, I, I think this game started to feel, yes, frustrating in the apps and ability to finish and things going against them, but also your top guys were your top guys. Sure did not having any real power plays out that maybe, maybe, but you watched Nathan McKinnon, Marty natious, frankly, Gabe Landis, God, too. And then McCarran Taves is your top deep airing all show up and play the way that it feels unfair to say, but that's the expectation of your best players. No, absolutely. Um, I think Micah said it before the game, too, is like, it seemed like the top guys were do for a kind of like, I need to take charge of this game kind of game. And I mean, talking about guys that you needed it from Nathan McKinnon, who finally looked

10:25some version of normal today, Martin Nuchis, who's been frankly fantastic since the Olympics and he's carried that on into the season, uh, Gabriel Landis, God picking up kind of weird right where he left off before he got injured, um, great game from Devon Taves on both sides of the puck. And I mean, Cam McCarran is Cam McCarran. Yeah, he's pretty good. So we're going to go through all five like that. That's frankly just a great game that is, as you mentioned, the expectation, if you're not getting anything, and especially it's, it's hard when Leckinon goes down when he does, too. And so seeing that step up in the wake of that, I think is, is huge. And it just shows why they are your top guys. Yep. And definitely a good point. Leckinon did leave this game about halfway through the first period, did not return. We don't really have details yet. I will see if Bed and I was press or has anything about it or not, but we, it won't, it

11:28will say we haven't checked with the trainer yet and we'll figure it out. Yep. Well, no more tomorrow. Well, like a significant negative, even if you did win the game, if Lecky is going to miss a significant amount of time, that is a problem that the abs are going to have to figure out. Yep. So it's one of those kind of weird situations, too, because it's happening so close to the trade deadline. It is. So it is a really quick turnaround. You have to really decide, okay, how much time is Leckinon going to miss? Because there's new rules in place this year. Leckinon has to be ruled out of the playoffs due to cap constraints. If that is the case and that puts a lot of pressure on not just the team, but the front office, because you've already got a decent amount of cap to work with before March 6th. Yep. Depending on what happens with the Leckinon situation, could make or break the season for you? Definitely. That's kind of how it's feeling. Leckinon can change your approach significantly.

12:30Obviously you hope for the best in that he is fine or relatively fine and will be able to play, but I don't know if that's true. I assume the chat isn't lying to me and Benar said he's out for some time and not playing tomorrow. Not playing tomorrow is not that big of a surprise. What does some time mean? Does some time mean two weeks? Does it mean two months? It's like, I don't know. Hard to really focus it on that until we get a little bit more clarity on that front, but that's the biggest negative from the game for me. You also take a look at this game and I'm not going to spend even five minutes talking about this tonight because I just can't, I don't have it in me anymore. But another brutal situation for the abs where what was a sure goal should have put the abs up three one in this game, terrible whistle from the refs to blow a puck dead that simply was loose, easy goal for natious every single time. Another one goes against the abs and we're getting to the point now where it's getting

13:34under the abs skin that even Benar is arguing with the refs about like, come on, guys. You see him get animated in certain situations, but this one just seemed a little, like you don't seem get that animated over things very often. Which is one of those kind of nuances where you look at it and you're like, all right, if he's reacting this way, like you know, you kind of screwed up. Yep. I go on the same rant for a lot of little things, this year it seems. My biggest issue with this is the consistency. We are how far into the season now. And there has already been a standard set for what a quote unquote correct amount of time to blow a style, a puck stop it down. 10 milliseconds. Right. Like if a gold tender, if you can no longer see the puck, there's usually a little bit

14:34of grace given for the gold tender to redistribute it or like he can make his choice on what he wants to do there. That grace was not given today, nor was the puck even stopped period. If anything, I'd say this season, it's felt like those whistles have dragged out longer than normal. Yes. Yes. Right up until this one. Absolutely. Like that, that is what is so frustrating here. Not only was the puck not completely stopped, but where was the opportunity like the Forsberg has no opportunity to sit and recover that puck, let alone try to form some sort of stoppage. So what's the whistle for? I don't have a good answer for you. I wish I did, but it's just something that we have to live with clearly. It's part of the season where those types of things are not going the abs way. And you know, over the course of a season, I do think those things mostly balance out, but it has certainly been very frustrating as of late.

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17:38Start there. We'll work our way up because there are plenty more than the three stars that I do think are worth talking about today. But star number three, the man who has finally scored a real goal in the NHL, debon, Taze. I don't know. Is he allowed to be debon again? No more devins. Okay. No, he can evolve. Okay. Good. Good. Look, this is the version of Devon Taves you got tonight is the one the abs need, frankly, not scoring the game when he goes awesome. Great. But quality play on both ends of the ice for a full, I'd have to look up his time on ice, but the top pairing that the abs want. Yeah. What I think I love most about this goal, too, is this is something he's already tried to create the season. He's been pushing up a little more lately, which I take what you will with that, I guess, because if you're looking at that pairing, you're expecting that guy to be kale McCarr.

18:40Yeah. Yes. And usually it's not usually Devon pushing up the way that he was for that goal, but he's tried that multiple times this season, hasn't worked out whether that's, you know, the finishing issue that everybody else on the team is dealing with. And he's just been bitten by it extraordinarily this year. This is a huge goal for Devon Taves. All we've talked about all season has been, okay, you look at the production from last season, and it just hasn't replicated itself well this season at all. Especially when you're looking at that top pairing and looking at kale McCarr having the season that he's having or finding the success that he is, I feel like there's two ways of looking at it. You could say like, okay, kale McCarr is, you know, producing well, being the offensive defenseman, we all know and love. And Devon Taves has his support on the back side of it, like that, that's great. And that works well for a lot of teams. But when you can get them both firing, yep, immediately elevates.

19:42And like there are already one of the best pairings I'd wager in the league. And if you can get them firing on that different level, it's, yeah, it's unstoppable. And I think it's understanding the role that he's in as well. When you look at tonight, McCarr at a pretty good game, your top line of McKinnon natures and Landis Gogh who play mostly with your top pairing, all had really good games. And when you're getting a game like that out of an eighth in McKinnon, you see defenses shift to their focus, locking a little bit more on those superstar guys and that omens up room for Devon Taves to cut through the middle of the ice and find a soft spot. And guess what? Sometimes they the McKinnon's going to make that play. So I do really like the mindset of Taves finding and picking his spots there. And then for him to actually finish one of those plays is maybe more of a relief than happiness on that front. I, and again, too, I really like this push deep mindset from him to like I, not something we're used to seeing. A lot of his game winners and goals scored last year, you know, these kind of floater

20:47goals from the blue line or, you know, situations from a little further out too. This is a really interesting dynamic that I really like seeing from Devon Taves. And if that's something he can push off of more, all the better for it. And the difference maker for the Colorado Evelyn, we talked about it, frankly, for years. The game winning goal is scored by a defenseman. The abs maybe didn't get that forward depth production. They were looking for the defense fills in for that in a way that not many other teams can. Right. So a plus work from Taves, putting the abs in the driver's seat, getting the big goal. Start number two, Marty Nages, a three point night. The empty netter is justice for the goal taken away, perhaps for him. You know, as nine points in four games post Olympic break, nasty ease. This is the, this is the truth, man. This is the version of Marty Nages that if the abs get this in the playoffs, they're going to go pretty far. And that's the key, right?

21:49Is as we mentioned during watch along, do it when it matters. That's got to be the mantra for Martin Neches heading into the rest of the season. However long that lasts, hopefully it's until June. But if this is the pace at which he can continue and he can do that consistently, we're talking about, you know, the characteristics of superstars. And that that's a constant conversation for Nathan McKinnon. That's been the conversation from Martin Neches. And he has those cold streaks, but when he performs like this, it's real good. It's really hard to not argue with exactly how much of a difference maker he can be on a team. He absolutely has it in him. And look, there is clearly an effective connection between him and Nathan McKinnon. There's a reason at five on five that you don't want to break those guys up because it just,

22:50when it's on, it's on. It works to a level that comparable to McDavid and Drisidle together, I would say. If you get that guy's ego going to, I say that maybe is a joke, but also halfway serious, too. Because... Right. Again, look at that Olympic performance. Not the standout guy we expected from Team Czechia, but went on to make himself the best player on that team. And you wonder how much of that confidence who's taken from that contributes to this. That's been our kind of main speculation is how much of that carries over because of that. This is... It looks like his labor. Yeah. That's absolutely the fruits of his labor, paying off. And then the number one star, of course, Nathan McKinnon won. He gets back on the board with a goal, which is always nice to see. Starts the abs right and finishes the abs right. Well, it's great to see Devon Tavescore, and it's a nice play from him.

23:53Let's be honest, it's Nathan McKinnon that creates that with the play that... That's why he's Nathan McKinnon and you're not. Yeah. He might get too cute sometimes. You might get frustrated with those passes, but sometimes they get through and then you win the game. Nathan McKinnon is such an anomaly of a player to me, too. In a game like this one, I felt like I was having whiplash watching him play. One shift back for the other. Like, great. Oh, no. No, no. You have those plays as you're mentioning. Yeah. He can make it happen. It's beautiful, right? But then he's got ones where he loses the puck and then he's just standing there watching it or he makes the bad pass and it's like, oh, all right, time for my change. I did what I could. I'm out of here. And I love Nathan McKinnon for what he can do as a player. The frustrating little nuances are really easy to swallow in a game like tonight where he's creating as much as he is.

24:54And he looks like the normal version of himself, too. I think that's the biggest key for me here is in the first three games. You're getting maybe this like half a lot less huffy and puffy, for sure, yeah, half version of Nathan McKinnon, he finally looked like himself tonight. I would argue. I like that. I like that version, even if it's an imperfect version of Nathan McKinnon, scoring goals is fun. Mm-hmm. Setting up great plays as fun and winning games is fun. And Nathan McKinnon is fun. I think I'm trying to make a fair assessment here, but I think every single night, Nathan McKinnon is in the top three reasons of why you get the result that you do. That's what being one of the best players in the world demands of you, though, right? It's true. Like that's, talk about expectations. Like I mean, I mean, it's a lot of pressure, sure, but it's the kind of pressure that Nathan McKinnon has earned. And frankly, I think it's the kind of pressure he wants.

25:57Yeah. I absolutely. This is a guy who doesn't care about individual accolades. He is a, my team wins. It's a good day kind of player, which I respect. I respect the hell out of. But that's the kind of player you're going to get, right? And that's the kind of expectation that comes along with a player like that is if you are going and winning, he needs to be one of the few factors as to why. Yeah. It, the reality of NHL teams in general, not just the abs, but you build around your best players. And Nathan McKinnon is that your builds to have him help you win. And I think he does a lot more to talk about helping the abs win than just obviously the big flashy place, like setting up the game, winning goal. But that's the first guy on the list. Number two, two, with less than 10 minutes left into a third period, Nathan McKinnon is always the first name you call in that situation. And I think you made a good point earlier too in talking about the connection between him

26:58and that just to like if that's if Nathan McKinnon is the first name you're calling as far as forwards, who's the second? I mean, it might be Kael McCarr or, but it's far as forwards for the definitely not just yeah, as far as forwards go though, like the connection that they've fostered and built is undeniable. And it's as much as we love to complain about, you know, the three on three, how ineffective it might be given the balance. There is no doubt that when you catch them in the offensive zone and you can get them firing on all cylinders, magic happens there. They are that good. This is not you walk away from a night where the two of them combined for five points and we haven't even talked about Gabe Landis guy on that line, right? And that is what they are frankly probably capable of more. I think we believe both of these guys have more than that in the tank and that should scare team. That is, I mean, but also like I mean, I think you and I can agree, like there, we haven't

28:01seen the proper version of the abs in a while, at least certainly not post Olympic break. Yes, but when you're talking about the best team in the league, which you're talking about statistically right now, looking at the standings, they are still the best team in the league. Unniable. No one's really that close in point totals. There's a reason why they're there. Yeah. Like if you want to get down to the nitty gritty of it, yes, depth helps. Yes. Yes, having a great goal tending in great blue line depth helps. With a lot of who's scoring most of those goals, who's getting you most of those points, who's spearheading a lot of this production. Yeah. That's the top line. And that that's what the abs got tonight. I do want to talk about landing some more as well as well as a handful of other guys, but we do need to take our second break of the show. So let's make sure we shout out a few more of our sponsors, including Taco Bell. Look, I'm going to be hungry at 12 30 at night after the show is over and I'm going to

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31:04He might be one of the big ones. Either way, go places with Toyota. Third period, the DNVR Avalanche podcast. Do you want to get into the landy, but we also have Jared Bednar Audio too. So I really hope someone asks him how the power play was tonight. That would be so funny. I don't think they did, but let's hear from Jared. For you, so apologize to that, Bill Nampo. Crazy hockey game. A lot of things to ask about, but just go for it. What did you think? I liked their game a lot tonight. I thought, again, committed on the defensive side of things. Both suppressing chances and shots. I think we're pretty hungry on the offensive side of the two tonight. I thought the McKinnon line with Neckash and Landis God were outstanding. Dangerous the whole night right from the get go. Didn't really let up the entire night. But they're goalie had a good night and shut them down a little bit. They stuck with it and got a big goal in the third period. I hope you guys will win. Just kind of part two.

32:05The other night, you guys kind of controlled the game. It takes you well to maybe get that lead. What do you want it to be? Yeah, well, we got the lead early tonight, but then we gave it up shortly after that. So then it took a bunch of work and they dug in harder and harder as the game went on. I felt like, but I think we didn't, they stopped sticking with their plan and not getting frustrated and it was just like, you know, again, one of those nights on the bench where I felt like we were playing with a ton of confidence. It felt like we continued to do what we were doing and the things just went in our favor. Just with the tough game, especially considering what they were doing at the last day of September, could they take you by surprise? I don't think they took it by surprise. We talked about it before the game. I mean, you got eight guys, I think, out of the lineup. A bunch of young kids coming in and playing their first game, new coach, a bunch of changes. I think the one thing that we can count on tonight was that they were going to come out and work hard to compete extremely hard. We needed to match that work ethic and then kind of let our depth and experience take over.

33:07You know, with some of those guys that they had over the line up and, but good hard fucking no question. It's a fast-awking hit. Pretty early didn't come back. Anything new? There was a concern? Option for tomorrow? I don't know. He's not going to be an option for tomorrow. Yeah, I haven't got the full report on him, but he's going to be able to miss some time. Nice little freebie power play gold there at the end. Yeah, it makes up for the one of the other night that didn't count. What was the explanation you guys got on the quick whistle lost side of it? Yeah, just quick whistle. He was caught on the other side of the goal. He didn't see a drop and just blew it to it. Do you think? A goal like that can get, we're talking about his offense. It's been up and down. Tays this year. Just kind of goal like that. It boosts him to kind of get him to go down the stream. He's been playing pretty good since coming out of the Olympics and we're trying and, you know, we've talked about him getting more involved with our attack and I thought, you know, he's as good as the McKinley. I know it's tonight. Tays a kill. All right.

34:08Thank you. Thank you so much. Pretty brief from Ben Arbiter, a couple of things I want to talk about. He's talking about the quality defense they've played over the last couple of games and when you look outside the Olympic break, Utah game, avas led, they get out shot 30 to 26 in that game. Okay. Whatever. They won. The Minnesota game, very high event, but avas out shoot 47 to 36. The Chicago game and avas out shoot 35 to 15 and then tonight you out shoot 39 to 21. Sure. Chicago and LA are maybe weaker competition, but when you putting together statistics like that, especially when you keep in mind that the avas never trailed in this game, is that defensive suppression or is that puck dominance that is making the difference in giving up so little? I, I almost lean toward the suppression a little bit, I think, but I think it also can be both. Sure.

35:08And this is one of those very common ones that does both the both answer. Just because they have so much talent on both sides of the puck, it truly is not really, in my eyes, when you look at, again, how forwards and defense minors split up a little bit. Obviously, there's way more forward. So you're going to get a little bit more of that scoring cross on that side, but you've got that talent on both sides of things too. Like the blue line is where the most part locked down and the chances that they're giving up happen a little closer to the net. It's not necessarily, you know, like they're, they're doing their job closer to the blue line for the most part. I also think to, like, I do want to kind of mention, like, you're looking at before the break where they're struggling to hit 21 and a game totally nearly enough. Because I love seeing these steps too, because it, like, first comes, you know, actually

36:11shooting the puck then comes the finishing and it's baby steps and I think they're starting to get there too. And when you look at a game, yes, it's great that they never trailed, but imagine what this looks like. If some of that finishing, you're looking at Ross Colton, especially who I'd love to talk about more later. If you can finish on some of those opportunities, Brock Nelson, and if he can hold on to the puck a little bit longer. Bal Nachooshkin. We're going to have to talk about that whole second line. It's a little difficult, but if you can get some of those finishing opportunities again, like this maybe seems a little bit easier, but those, those shot angle totals absolutely help. And I love that you answered both because both is exactly what a move like Brett Kulak does for you. He is going to help you round out the defensive side and you're going to give up less shots. And the forward side is free, free reign going home with Brett Kulak back there. We trust him.

37:11I'm not going to say they cheat up the ice, but they feel a little bit more confident to send it up the ice because Kulak is back there and will make the defensive play. I mentioned this earlier too, but harping on this point and saying through these four games that Brett Kulak has been enough has become more and more noticeable. And my eyes and not in a bad way. But we've got people talking about how like, okay, if he's not noticeable, he's doing his job for the first couple of games, which is a valid statement. Absolutely. Yeah. But he's, it feels like he was given his role very early on and he's taken it and stride. Yeah. Now, it definitely looks like a positive addition on the back end for this team. And I think the key thing and we saw some of this at a Kulak today is when he's, if he can continue to contribute in breaking pucks out as well off of his own stick, obviously you plan with melonsky for a reason melonsky supposed to be the breakout guy, but sometimes the act you're both defenseman on the ice. Sometimes you got to make the play.

38:12I don't, we saw a little bit of it in this game in the offensive zone expectations are not very high for a guy like that, but getting the offense going is something that is pretty much necessary to be an avalanche defenseman and you've got some good stuff from Kulak there today. But you're getting both sides of it from him to like it's, in acquiring a guy like Kulak, as you mentioned, that's really not the expectation you're getting out of him. This is a stay at home defenseman who, maybe not the best skater, maybe not the acquisition you were expecting from this team or at least high up on the list, but has done everything that has been asked of him and then some, which is when coming into the av system, it really cannot be like a single-minded mindset type of thing like this is not just a one-path forward type of team, being able to sit there and say this, okay, I know what I am expected to give and this is everything more that I have in the tank. Being able to provide that in the way that Kulak has has been really, really impressive

39:16to watch. All right. I really have very little issue with the avs defensively tonight. I think the Manson Burns pairing started slow, but figured it out. Obviously, Taze, McCarver, great. No real notes for Kulak and Melinsky. I guess Manson don't take that penalty. It is four games in a row where Josh Manson has taken a penalty. You do need to clean that up. That's fair. I didn't hate Manson for the entirety of the game. I had more of a problem with Burns, but as you mentioned, kind of cleaning it up, Manson was probably my favorite out of the pair tonight. Did they play their best game other? Absolutely not. But they didn't turn into the black hole. Yeah. Right. The pairing from hell. Yeah. So moving back to the forward side, and I do want to talk about the rest of the top six, but I want to talk first about landing. Obviously, it's on the board today with a nice goal, and I think he picked up at least another assist to on the empty netter.

40:18This is where you learn to trust Jared Bednar, right? We talk often about he is stubborn, and sometimes that comes back as a negative for him with some of the decisions that he makes. But he's left landing up with this top line. He says, no, I like landing in this spot. I want this to keep going forward. I see things that I like out of it. And frankly, it all came together in this game of exactly how you want it to play with landing as the third guy on that line. Yeah. No, there's, we talk about chemistry between the two top scorers of that line, but there's something to be said about the balance that Gabriel Landiskov provides. He's the adult. Right. But, but not just that too, like he's providing some of the same things you'd see from a an Arturie Leckon in that case, but there's something about the chemistry between those two. And not saying by any means that McKinnon and Leckon and don't play well together, because

41:20that's been proven, like they played just fine, if not wonderfully together. But there's something about the chemistry and the way that that line specifically operates with Landi on it that just seems, like, right seems like the, and understatement to us here, but like getting into the right areas, they just seem to know it's one of those things, like, I don't even need to look to know where you are kind of thing. And Landiskov just kind of figures it out. Yeah. And the abs do need some of that. I think one of the struggles we've pointed out with when maybe the abs aren't playing at their best, Nathan McKinnon throwing the pucks to nobody, and I'm not forgiving Nathan McKinnon for his mistakes. Some of those are definitely his faults. Right. But there's also an expectation of if you're going to play with Nathan McKinnon, you need to be able to read and understand how he plays and be there where he's going to send

42:20the puck. Nothing. Again, with the way that Gabe Landiskov likes to play, just kind of parking himself in the slot too and, and playing in that middle of the ice, like that, that's really what he's been able to thrive on is that kind of sweeper duty all of those things. That's the role, right? You're not there to be the offensive superstar. You are there to get a goal out of him. That's wonderful. Yeah. But you're not looking at Landi to be the goal scorer every single night. Yeah. And it's obviously he's going to handle the defensive side much better than either McKinnon or Natus. That's just not what they do. A lot of the physical dirty work is also on Landi. There is very little worry at this point left for Landi that he can't be that guy. He's shown across the course of this season that all the physical stuff is just fine for him. Yep. So very nice to see on that front. The rest of the top six forwards is where maybe not as happy today.

43:26And obviously, like losing Leckinon is a hard spot. Like you drop him off of that line and Colton got some shifts up there. I think even Brindley got some shifts up there. So it was thrown into chaos a little bit, but I mean, do you want to start with the Chushkin or Colton? Oh, God. Let's get a new guy out of the way. Okay. I, what is, how do I ask this lightly? Like what is up with him? I guess like I, is the most like straightforward way of asking this question, but like there's just something off. Yeah. It's since January 31st. It feels like an offensive mindset thing more than anything else because I come away from these last two games. I watch Val and the Chushkin make good plays. I walk him, I watch him win puck battles in the neutral zone. I watch him win puck battles along the wall in the offensive zone. But then I don't know if it's a confidence thing or a role thing or what it is, but those

44:28pucks, one, he's not playing the way he's capable of as a power for when it comes to protecting them on his own stick and his puck management in general, frankly, just needs to be better than it has been. Bednar did say, you know, he was dealing with a wrist thing. So maybe, maybe he's not fully comfortable back from whatever that was. But too, this is a guy who is scored over 20 goals for the abs. Like, you're too good of a goal score to not be shooting more and not finding your way to more rebound opportunities that you need to be putting in the back of the net. Look at stylistically what Landy is doing for the top line. And really, that is, I think, what the expectation for Val should be for that second line. But for whatever reason, that offensive component just doesn't seem to be there right now. I look back at this last stretch of four games, too. And I think of maybe one game that I've been okay with from Nathushka and I can't even

45:28say that I loved him for the full 60. Yeah. Definitely mistakes tonight. Yeah. Well, not, not even like tonight, like, it would not be this game, it would not be this game. But even then, like, I'm not looking at him, like, loving the full 60 of that one good game that he's had during this stretch, maybe has played well through the neutral zone. It can, you know, help with some of the breakouts. But again, when you're talking about what a forward-like Nathushka should be providing in the zone. It's not there. Yeah. It's really subpar from what has become the expectation for Val Nathushka. And devil's advocate is a valid argument saying, like, this is a guy who has scored 20 goals, whatever. We know he's capable of more that that's kind of where I'm going with this is 20 goals should not be though. Okay, you've hit this season's good for Val Nathushka and like, there's ideally a lot

46:28more left in the tank and you're talking about, yes, you know, injuries and whatnot have played Tim. Like, obviously, you know, wrist is or is not still a factor. But this is a guy who ideally we're not expecting to miss any more time from should be able to operate full steam ahead, no pun intended for the rest of the season. We know there's a lot more left in the tank when that capability is there. It just feels like the second font line has been lulled into this false sense of security with how good Brock Nelson had been from November to February. And Brock Nelson's still fine. I don't think he was very good in this game, but it's one game, whatever, not particularly worried about that. But when you see Brock Nelson not scoring literally almost every night and all of a sudden those other second line guys aren't producing either, you widen your eyes just a little bit.

47:29Be like, huh, no, I, I fully agree. And when we're talking about an Arturie Leckinon being out of the lineup too, Ross Colton seems to beat with some of the, you know, it's Ross Colton or Victor Olivesin, which the production we've gotten out of Victor Olivesin. I'm not all that confident there either, but with some of the Ross Colton that you see, I hate so much that we were right about the break coming at the worst possible time for Ross Colton, because he was finally starting to put the puck in the net again. And we were like, okay, good, good. And then the Olympic break and he comes back from the break. And it's right back to the finishing is just not there for him. Which, and it sucks too, because the first three games I didn't think were horrible. Like you're looking at, you know, some underlying numbers, some of the chances he's creating for himself are decent chances. The creation has never been the problem, right?

48:30So like that's in this one too, like it just seems even the creation, like it didn't look competitive. Yeah. Tonight, at least not in the way that you want to see, especially from, well, then it's a tough spot, right, because if you truly are one of the deepest teams in the league, which at least when they're healthy, I believe the abs are. But if you're bringing up Ross Colton to the second line and that's what the finishing looks like, that's not good enough for a second line player. And I know he shouldn't be on a second line in a perfect world, but injuries happen, man. You have to have options that are ready and capable there. What's really frustrating about it too is you're getting that version of Ross Colton while also getting the version of Brock Nelson that you're getting, because when, as we've mentioned, when Brock Nelson's firing the way that he needs to, you're elevating your entire line. You're, you're getting a better version of a Valnichuskin. You're likely getting a maybe more complete version of Ross Colton for a big derolless

49:33center. Whatever it is right there, like he, he's kind of that spark, especially for a guy like Nichuskin, who I think is, you're in talking about jelling, like that pair's, pair of forwards has been incredible for the most part of the season. And you're sitting with that and you're saying, hey, the trade deadline is now in three days since we're in tomorrow to tomorrow on this show now. You know, is Bobby McMahon available? Yeah. And especially how long is some time for, or for you like that, plays a factor to for sure. So like not only looking at the amount of cap that you got in offloading your art, but now you're potentially looking at an option for our Tory Leckinan to provide some more. So now you can go and fill that three C hole that has been on the wish list since the beginning of the season. But also, well, what does the wing do? And like, while it may change how the abs approach the deadline, even if it will look

50:36in an injury as a significant one, the abs have been working at this for months. Like it's not like the trade deadline is crept up on them. They have lists and they have guys that they potentially want to target that will go beyond just solving their three C spot. So it's up to the abs, how they're going to approach the deadline and what they ultimately decide to do and what cost and value and blah, blah, blah, blah. But I do think when you see Ross Colton struggling out of the break, regardless of the Leckinan situation, it just, you know, the light bulb might be blinking a little bit just a little bit. I, it definitely makes those alarms seem a little bit louder as far as, you know, what's surrounding Ross Colton and, you know, is he somebody you take a chance on heading into the playoffs or is this just like, if you get a good game out of him, that's good trade bait. Yep. Right. It could be. And a good point here in the Toyota chat from Randy, who says trade deadlines so stressful

51:37for some players, then they still have to go out and perform no matter what. And Colton is a guy who for the last couple of years, his name has been floated and rumors and stuff. So definitely could be a factor there for him and probably some other guys too, but yeah, absolutely worth noting that trade deadline definitely can play on the mind. of players that are potentially on the move. I'm sure the abs have their own internal analytics and know what they want to do. Like I said, so we'll take that as it comes, but hard not to think about those things when you see a second line struggle on a night light tonight. Ultimately, your second line picks a night to struggle though. One where your top line pops off, you still end up with a dub. Yep. You can live with that to some extent. Yeah, abs look, I tweeted this out after the second period to the last couple of games have been really, really frustrating for Colorado and you're three and one after the Olympic

52:38break. Yep. That's pretty darn good. Yeah. Maybe a maybe I need to take a step back and say, Hey, yes, these were some frustrating games, but they're not that frustrating. Also looking at that with the context of what the schedule has been for them coming out of the break. Brutal. They're on their second back to back in seven days. Yep. Yep. Right. Tomorrow's game will be their fifth game in seven days. That's, and it's not, it's ridiculous too, because multiple of those games come against rested teams, the, the lost to Minnesota, Minnesota, that was their first game back. Yep. Like, absolutely. And that's a game they're in, too. Right. Like, that's not even like a, oh, they're, they're tired, whatever, rested team. Like, there's a world in which the abs win that game was very competitive, even with all the nonsense penalties.

53:39You look at someone like, and a heim, did they play today? No. Tomorrow's not going to be easy by any stretch for the Colorado Avalanche, but they've battled through a lot of unfair contexts and are playing above 500 in that four game stretch. They win against Anaheim and go four and one in this stretch. That's literally you to take in that in a heartbeat at the start. Absolutely. Absolutely. For all of my frustrations, I do want to give the abs a lot of credit for battling through. I do think it leaves as much as I am very happy, you know, birthday win, whatever. I'm very excited that they pulled this one out. It does leave a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth, knowing that this is the kind of game that they're heading into tomorrow with on their back. Life don't get easier. No, it doesn't. And looking at the rest of the season, like, it's, it's a hefty uphill climb.

54:42You get two days off after tomorrow, but guess what, Dallas immediate, you get maybe one, two day break after that. It's not much. It's not much. Like, after that, it's basically a game every other day. That is grueling. Yeah. And you're, you're talking about trying to fit in some sort of practice schedule in between that. It's not going to be a lot of practice. No, not a lot. But looking at a game like Anaheim, like, it's, the apps had the handle on this one. They could have made their lives easier. That's kind of where I'm going, I guess, is there, there's an opportunity in which they can maybe not coast through this game, but they had two points kind of in hand for, for a lot of it. And there's not a lot of, like, they can preserve a lot of their energy going through this one. And that makes Anaheim just that much easier, maybe not by much, but every little morsel of energy, I think.

55:43Personal athlete margins are so thin, right? Right. So that's, that's where I'm like, it's, it's not much, but every little morsel of energy counts to take what you can get the silver lining here, idea is wedged wood is starting tomorrow. True. So you're getting at least one guy out there who is completely rested. And he's going to have to be good if the abs are going to win tomorrow. That's the pressure is on there. We do have one super chat here and then a couple more minutes to wind things down. Many, thank you for the super says, yeah, for a win, almost 3 a.m. here, good night, Rudo. Yeah. I'll probably still be up at 3 a.m. This is my type of time, I know that literally everyone else hates them, but I'm just up at these hours anyway. Yeah. So it is what it is. I will be going straight to sleep, that is, that is my, my day, my day is busy, busy tomorrow. That's the way it happens. Yeah. Yeah. You don't want, you don't want Bailey to do a winter shot on her birthday and get more

56:43likes, you can get more likes on the show, I believe in you. Colorado. Once again, it's, it might be too generous to say comfortably. At the top of the NHL, but they have a cushion at the top of the week. I think sometimes we, meaning myself as I'm not really a journalist, I'm a YouTuber, but as someone who makes content about the Colorado, I have a lunch, sometimes you look too deep to find a problem. Sometimes you go three and one and that's pretty good and you just live with it, right? Yeah. Sure. Does the power play need to be better? Yeah. Does the PK need to stop giving up goals? Yes, but that is something that can change. Like I, I really don't want to go on another 20 minute rant about the power play, but there's

57:45a pretty good chance it gets better. No, I, we could sit here and nitpick this team until we're blue in the face for the rest of the week and then some, even, even through this three one stretch. But the reality is, this is a three and one stretch. That is not bad hockey by any means. Not at all. There are not a whole lot of significant winning streaks even going on currently in the NHL. I didn't check the East super close. Yeah. The, the canes just lost to Seattle dropping a 12 game point streak. So. The only significant winning streak is the Islanders have won five in a row and then Dallas has won nine in a row, dating back to it before the break. And so Dallas is reward for having nine and one record in their last 10 is that there's still six points back at the abs and the abs have a game in hand. And that is very likely going to be the best stretch of the season remaining for Dallas.

58:48Yep. It's really hard to catch teams in the NHL and the abs have the luxury of being at the top. That luxury is great as it is too. It makes those, because they had a bit of a bigger gap when it comes to those game, games in hand during the, or before the Olympic break and seeing some of those squandered makes that hurt just a little bit more because you're looking at the dominant team this used to be and saying like, and well, you know, they're still sitting in, and first in the West, but overall, but like, how much can we elongate that gap and they, I don't know, I'm, I'm fishing for something anything here, but ultimately like that, that's the reality of it is your, your six points up on your closest competition in the West, that's pretty darn good. Yeah. There's a little bit of never happiness in that, right? Like, oh, well, the abs, the gap is closed and now it's close and oh, no.

59:48And then if the abs extend the gap, it's like, well, the abs are going to win the president's trophy and that's cursed and oh, no, like, you can find things to be unhappy about some of them justified. Right. You can also just be happy about the abs when they win. Yeah. I'll leave it in that. Yeah. No, I feel like that's fair. Cool. We will get out of here for this one. Same thing tomorrow, half an hour earlier, which is still very late. So good luck to you. I hope you get through your work day. We will see you on the next one. This has been the DNVR Avalanche podcast and we're what I won't be livin' 18 hours. I don't know. Babs will make a trade and I'll have to get up. We'll see you soon. See you soon.