Some fun data to look at from the final regular season games of our Cup-winning 2021–2022 season.
We went on a 9 game win run and set the world on fire at the end of March. We then went 1-6 in our final seven games.
Let’s hope the coming weeks yield the same result, you guys.
PS: Still wish we had Kuemps, Frankie and Naz.
by jasonmarsell
15 Comments
Not in anyway trying to suggest anyone should be panicking right now, but it is important to note that the Avs were basically icing their AHL team in that final stretch of that season in order to rest their starters.
The 2021 data also showed we had better depth in terms of scoring. If we face Winnipeg and the shut down Mack’s line, they just need 1 or two goals a game and Helly takes care of the rest.
Canucks fan here, the last 10-15 games of a season tell you less about a team than the first 57.
President’s Trophy is the kiss of death.
I just want y’all to beat the Coilers again please.
yes, the records may be similar, but you need to look deeper in particular the goals against.
This was just a ploy to get Florida to win the prez trophy
Tampa proved it over and over again. Just get into the playoffs. Doesn’t matter what you do once you’ve clenched.
As you said, Avs went 1-6 in their last 7 in 22’
Tampa went 2-4 in their last 6 in 21’, and 3-7 in their last 10 in 20’.
There’s a pattern of wagons taking their foot off the gas once clinched.
It’s certainly not panic time but this team isn’t that one, and the comparison isn’t quite apt anyhow because we’d already clinched the conference by the time we started resting guys down the stretch that year.
Saturday is a big game, while home ice guarantees nothing, it’s still better to have it as much as possible than not. Plus, it’d be nice to beat Winnipeg at least once this season before we play them in the first round.
One thing that helped is we had the best record in the west (second best in the NHL). When the Panthers got eliminated that year (presidents trophy winner), we had home ice advantage throughout the playoffs. A lot of teams need to lose for us to get home ice advantage this year, including 2 or maybe 3 western conference teams. We need home ice advantage
I’m not panicking until there’s 2 minutes left in an elimination game for this team. Too many fans flip out when a team goes on a bit of a slide
Kuenper was putting up .921 SV% Georgiev is putting up
.899 not even remotely the same situation
Counterpoint: by the time they had their win over Carolina (the last game before that really bad stretch), they’d [clinched 1st in the west](https://www.nhl.com/standings/2022-04-16/wildcard).
Aside from the President’s Trophy, they had nothing to play for during those final 7 games.
This ain’t the 2021-2022 team. I’ll say it, the commitment to defensive excellence as a team up and down the lineup of that 2022 team was further along. Whether they just understood that winning a cup was going to require a commitment to structure and playing on the right side of the puck which they seemed to figure out as they moved through the season and really solidified that behavior in the playoffs. Or, if having the likes of Gabe, lehkonen, and val all together as elite defensive wings in the top 6 combined with bottom 6 fierce checkers and skaters and even more depth than now was just defensively too much for other teams to handle all game long as avs rolled lines, this team is going to have to commit to playing with elite structure and avoid the mental errors that occur with the allure to rush up the ice as quickly as possible a lot of times, especially against teams that are really structured to cut them down through the neutral zone and counter them if they make dumb turnovers trying to fly the zone above the puck cheating. Avs gotta make sure their bed is made in their own zone and through the neutral zone on reload first before worrying about offense in my opinion. If they can do that they will have success.
This team is much less deep, and worse defensively than that year’s squad. They were also better on the road.