Avs-Islanders Game 3 Studs & Duds

The Colorado Avalanche lost 6-2 to the New York Islanders in their third game of the season. These are the Avs Studs & Duds from the game.

stollen

Cal Ritchie

There are two ways to be automatically added to the Studs after a game: score your first NHL goal or score a hat trick.

Ritchie was first with a great play that started with a perfect reload. After getting the puck back from the Isles, it went hard into the net and Josh Manson found it for an eaaaaasy tap-in goal. It was great for Ritchie and you could see his confidence growing after that goal.

The big smile on Ritchie's face on the bench afterwards was heartwarming and a joy for everyone.

Nathan MacKinnon

I'll get to the big guns in a moment, but MacKinnon was engaged and flying around for most of the game. It's silly that that's seen as a good thing because, you know, that's his job, but that was the kind of night it was.

His pass to Casey Mittelstadt was nasty and symbolic of the fact that his style of play is already back in full swing this season.

Duds

The stars

I want to highlight the second third because that was the worst, but there was a lot not to like, especially with Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar.

Rantanen's penchant for laziness showed again as he never really got his game going. He simply wasn't engaged the entire game and it was so bad that head coach Jared Bednar pulled him (and the rest of the top PP unit) off the ice during Colorado's first power play. Of course he came out, but it was some kind of message.

I would like to see Bednar use the banking method a little more in games where his team is trained this way. I think sometimes the stars on this team have shirked the responsibilities that marked their rise to stardom because they have achieved so much. No one embodies this more than Rantanen.

Makar, well, it was lazy sometimes And brutally bad. It was just a terrible game for him overall. These games happen, and when they happen they are incredibly frustrating to watch, but when the team is missing as much talent as they are (no Toews, Lehkonen, Drouin, Nichushkin or Landeskog), these guys simply can't have off nights.

goalkeeper

That was by far the least that can be blamed on Alexandar Georgiev, as the team in front of him put him in some terrible situations, but Georgiev allowed five more goals. Am I supposed to believe that this guy is just the unluckiest goalkeeper in the world? Please.

Georgiev wasn't good again tonight and my frustration was similar to last year – after allowing three, he started blocking the ball and playing a little better. This puts enormous pressure on the team in front of him. They took an early lead, but it was squandered when Georgiev failed to clear his post and allowed an easy rebound to Anders Lee to make it 1-1 and give the Isles the momentum back.

defense

Name a defender and there was a brutal scene for them at some point tonight. Oliver Kylington was terrible for most of the game, Makar we talked about, Manson had a nice pass to Ritchie and then was bad the rest of the night, Girard had several defensive breakdowns and Sam Malinski had a turnover that particularly impressed me Say, 'Oh man.'” The other new guy, John Ludvig, had me thinking he was Jack Johnson for a moment as he ran through a sequence in the neutral zone.

The team defense was also terrible. They allowed about 32458973945734 dangerous chances, so only allowing six goals was fine. They played disconnected hockey throughout the game and looked like a team that had no interest in making the effort to play strong defensive hockey.

A lot of defense is just effort and commitment. The Avs had almost none of that tonight and deserved this result.

Avs Unsung Hero

Casey Mittelstadt, I guess?

I have to say that in my opinion Mittelstadt wasn't good tonight. He blew some coverages in the defensive zone that were critically bad, and he is unable to drive a line as an impact player. That's a problem in itself, but at least the Avs knew they were coming.

However, he scored another goal. That means he has three goals in three games to start the season, which is pretty cool. It really looks like the Avs have a legitimate No. 2 center again. It's not hard to dream of a world where the missing wings come back and provide a little more help.