Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother
You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'
And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive
Now that we all sufficiently have the Bee Gee’s stuck in our head, with Monday night’s win, the Avs are “Stayin’ Alive.” The Avs came out storming, as we suspected they would, and scored five goals in the opening period. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare got the Avs on the board first, but it was halfway through the period when Burakovsky made it 2-0 that began the Avs’ scoring spree – scoring four goals in 2:36. The succession of goals fell one second short of the NHL playoff record that was set by the 1944 Montreal Canadians. Their 20 minutes of fury was enough to get the win, and force a Game 6 on Wednesday.
The Avs ultimately won 6-3, but after the first, it wasn’t a given that they would win. Goals during this series have come in rapid spurts, and with the way the games have gone, it could have easily still swayed in Dallas’s favor, particularly during the final period where the Avs were outshot 3-18. Yikes. Never has my heart been beating so fast with a three-goal lead, but thanks to the hockey gods, and of course the skill of the team, the Avs were able to hold off the Stars, and live to see another game.
During the onslaught by Dallas in the third, Michael Hutchinson only allowed one-goal. No, that wasn’t a typo, I said Hutchinson, not Francouz or Grubauer. Hutchinson. As of Sunday night Pavel Franouz was deemed “unfit to play”, and with Grubauer out indefinitely, the Avs have called up Michael Hutchinson and Hunter Miska as our goaltenders. It is still to be determined if Francouz will be back for Game 6 or not. Since beginning the postseason amidst the pandemic, the NHL has prohibited teams from providing information on their players who will not play due to injury or illness. This is in place to protect the privacy of the player’s medical conditions, and likely to try and mitigate possible rumors. Is Francouz injured, is he sick, has he been exposed to COVID and awaiting test results? We don’t know, and we probably never will, even if he does come back for the next game.
Despite lacking our top two goaltenders, Michael Hutchinson seemed perfectly content between the pipes in what was his NHL playoff debut. He saved 31 out the 34 shots he faced, and while it may have been his first career playoff victory, it is obvious that his ten-year career has enabled him to remain calm under pressure.
The rest of the Avs could follow Hutchinson’s lead in his approach to keeping their cool. When the puck wasn’t going in favor of the Stars, they got dirty and forced the Avs into taking dumb penalties. If the Avs are going to remain in this series, they will need to be more disciplined, and not let the scummy Stars get to them. The Avs took six penalties, and the Star were able to capitalize on two of them. Whereas the Avs also had six power play opportunities, one of them a 5-3 power play, but failed to score on a single one of them. Not to mention that the Avs couldn’t even score an empty net goal in the 5+ minutes that Dallas pulled their goalie at the end of game. The Avs have to be able to generate goals on their man-advantages.
We saw the Avs dominate the first period, and thankfully it got us the victory, but if the Avs want to push a Game 7, they need to play a full 60 minutes. Not 20, not 40, but 60. We cannot have another period like in Game 4 and Game 5 where we put five, or even worse, three shots on goal for the entire period, and then have a period where we put 23 shots on net. The NHL might not be releasing player’s medical conditions, but I can tell you that the Avs are showing strong bipolar symptoms. Rather than prescribe any medication, I suggest the Avs get it together and play the full game like we all know they can.
The Avs have fought for a Game 6, now it’s time to fight for a Game 7. In the meantime, I suggest you watch the Bee Gee’s official “Stayin’ Alive” video to keep our spirits up. If anything, give it a quick look just to see how tight their white pants are, it is no wonder their voices are so high. Enjoy, and Go AVS!