Game 3 Running Diary: "Hey, I, oh, I'm still alive"

Follow along as Pat breaks down Seattle's 1st postseason home game.

Photo courtesy of @Avalanche/Twitter

PREGAME

• Just wanted to get this up and out earlier than normal. Post some of you predictions, comments, concerns or just general topics in the comment section and we’ll take a look and answer them later.

• I have to go bathe my children and get them ready for bed, so I’ll come back in a while and check to see if anyone actually did the above request.

• I’ll add more of this later, but I’ll start the pre-game discussion with the one thing I think is key to tonight: silencing the crowd. Seattle is going to be rocking tonight (and for what those fans are paying, they deserve to be loud!), so it’s key to get out early and set the tone, much like the Kraken did in Denver both nights. If you can come out fast, quiet the crowd and start to play with speed and flow, I think the Avs will be in a good position to dictate the game.

• Also: Colorado has been so good on the road lately (11 straight wins!). Let’s try and continue that.

• Game 3… time for Mikko and Mack to show up. Maybe Makar, too. I dunno… just spitballing’ ideas here.

• (the title is a Pearl Jam lyric… cause they’re from Seattle… where the game is… Sorry.)

• To Ian’s comment: Adjustments! It’s the key to a series and, for the most part, Bednar does a great job of making them… both in-game and between games. Making the lineup changes was huge as I thought Evan Rodrigues was awesome on the top line, while also spreading up Mack and Mikko forced Seattle into line matching that allowed the Avs favorable matchups (we’ll see how that works on the road). To your point, though: making the stylistic changes is huge. If done well, it can lead to a whole new style of play. They did a solid job of eliminating the strength of Seattle’s forecheck after the first period, while stopping opportunities in the neutral zone and creating counter opportunities the other way. Seeing the problem and being able to address it while not completely altering your own style of play is the sign of good trust between the team and coaches.

• To Thomas’ comment: Sloppy play marred Game 1 for Colorado. The inability to string together a series of quality passes either exiting the defensive zone or while in the offensive zone cost the Avalanche in many areas of the game. Eliminate turnovers in bad areas of the ice and be careful with it when you have the ability to make a play that can lead to a scoring chance. They need to simplify the game. The skill is there and will take over if they continue to take care of the puck and play their brand of hockey.

• Slight break to plead with fellow Avs fans: IF a play like the one we saw last night in the LAK/EDM happens to Colorado, please FOR THE LOVE OF GOD don’t act like Oilers fans, player and coaches did last night. What a brutal look all around. I didn’t even enjoy it. I was just so embarrassed by it all. MacDavid saying that he called the high stick on the ice, their coach claiming that “the best player in the world called it three feet away” so it must be a high stick and the general social media response was a bad look for hockey.

• Okay, back to our game tonight: Alexander Georgiev needs to be the goalie we saw in the second and third periods on Thursday night and not the one from the first. He’s been so good this year and any bad performance he’s had, he usually bounces back from the next game, but what about a third of a bad performance??

• Still waiting on lineups: Andrew Cogliano is a game-time decision, which Johnson will play defense, and what about Lars Eller? I have a feeling we’ll see Ben Meyers in tonight for one of those forwards, but that’s just a guy feeling.

• Come on, Winnipeg… EVERYONE is rooting for you! You gotta finish that comeback!!

• Inside an hour and we have some news: No Val Nichushkin in warmups tonight, so he appears to be out with an injury. When did this happen??

• Based on what we’ve seen of line rushes in warmups, Meyers, Cogs and Eller are all in tonight, while Helm is out. I’m also seeing that Nieto is up with the second line (Compher and Mikko), while Malgin is with Meyers and Eller. I wish Malgin was up on the second line. He always seems to step up his game when playing with high-end talent.

Go Avs Go!