I had the opportunity to go the Game 4 last night. Although I didn’t have the best seats in the house, didn’t matter, the place was packed and there was a lot of energy. I hadn’t seen that place that packed since Joe Sakic retirement night.
Overall, I thought the Avs played a pretty good game, a lot better than they did in Game 3. They didn’t get out shot like last game which to me was a big thing. When you only get 17 shots and you let the other team get over 50 shots, you’re just making winning the hockey game a whole lot harder. And those 50 shots were the only the ones that actually made it to Anderson, the Sharks had over 30 shots blocked.
But, I do have a few negative things to say about the game. Sacco decided to sit Wilson and put Salei instead. I can’t say that I totally agree with that when Clark was available. I’m not saying Salei played a bad game but when you have a team shooting like crazy at your goalie, you might considerer putting the guy that blocks a lot of shots ….and that’s Clark.
Another thing I noticed was that the Avs seemed kind of slow compared to the Sharks. The Avs are the younger team that and they’re supposed to have lots of speed. What happened?!?!? I thought Yip looked the slowest of all, maybe that was just me but every time he touched the puck, it seemed that he had Sharks players on him pretty quick.
And Svatos, I don’t even know what to say. I know he probably tries hard when he’s on the ice but I’m sorry, you’re no Hejduk. I saw him make a bunch of mistakes which was hard to watch since he’s out there with someone as talented as Duchene. To me, that second line of Duchene, Svatos and Yip just didn’t have any chemistry. That’s where I think not having Hejduk/Duchene/Mueller really hurts.
I wrote a post before the series started and mentioned that the Avs had a good chance of winning…..if the got/stayed healthy. Mission failed!!! Losing Hejduk is HUGE. Now both Hejduk and Mueller aren’t making the trip to San Jose, two key pieces that the Avs could have used right about now.
One thing that I do want to mention was the play of Darcy Tucker. I thought he looked like his old self. Let’s be honest, he doesn’t have the scoring touch from his Maple Leafs days ( he does actually have a few 20+ goal seasons) but his intensity last night was awesome. Tucker is not a big guy by any means but he’s out there hitting these bigger Sharks players. Way to go Tucker! Of course, Anderson looked good too. And I have to say, when the starting line up was announced, when they said Anderson’s name, the crowd went nuts; they love him at the Pepsi Center. He’s our number 1 goalie for sure!
Game 5 tomorrow. Let’s hope they can pull this together and come back here for the win.
-Frenchy
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