Top NHL insider reveals Avalanche had a mission before 9-1 blowout win vs. Oilers
Photo credit: Ron Chenoy - Imagn Images
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman of 32 Thoughts podcast fame believes that in Edmonton's 9-1 loss, the Avalanche intentionally made an example of the two-time Stanley Cup Finalist.
I was still in our green room, so I was able to watch both of them. And I watched the last minute of Colorado-Edmonton, and the Avalanche absolutely wanted that tenth goal. They went hard after that tenth goal. They had a breakaway chance, and then they got the puck, and instead of ragging it or shooting it back down to their own end and just lazily passing it around a couple times, they kept on trying to shoot. They wanted to score. They were up 9-1, and they wanted to win by more.
- Elliotte Friedman
- Elliotte Friedman
Oilers have a target on their backs this year
It's an interesting take by Friedman, given that any team would want to win by as many goals as possible, in particular against a team that at the beginning of the year was favoured to win it all. It should also be a team's mentality against any team, in my opinion.
Still, Edmonton had to give up goals for the Avalanche to win; some of the blame is their's to take. Usually, teams play harder against a contender.
Yet, Skinner gave up five goals before he was pulled, while the other four were on his backup, Calvin Pickard, in a game that Colorado completely dominated, the highest-scoring game of the season in the NHL, in fact.
If you're Edmonton, you have to expect that teams will be gunning for you; it's the price of being a good team. That the Avalanche smelled blood in the water also, made then victims of a universal culture in professional sports.
Win at all costs, and by as much as possible. Edmonton has been on the other side of that belief on may an occasion, and will be again, as soon as they can find their game. Last night against Columbus was a start.
Now they just need to take a page for the Avalanche playbook and get back to what they do best - dominate games.
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