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Key Takeaways as Avalanche Lose First Game of Rookie Face-off

  
Rookie face-off
Ivan Ivan takes a face-off during a game in the Rookie Faceoff on Friday night. (Photo courtesy of Colorado Avalanche)

The Rookie Avalanche fall 4–3 to The Rookie Ducks

Hockey is back on the menu! With the regular season less than a month out, the Rookie Face-off tournament is here to showcase the future of the Colorado Avalanche. Friday night saw the baby Avalanche taking on the Anaheim Ducks rookie squad in the first of three games.

A largely even rookie game saw the Avalanche fall short 4–3 as Ducks rookie Cutter Gauthier torched the baby burgundy and blue. Callie Clang held the young Avalanche off the board through the first period and much of the second. Despite a valiant comeback effort spearheaded by Calum Ritchie (more on him below), the Avalanche rookies fell just short. Below are the important points from an exciting and fast-paced first game broken down via the frame presented in classic cinema: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

The Good

Calum Ritchie: All eyes were on the young Oshawa Generals star drafted 21st overall by the Avalanche in last year’s entry selection. He did anything but disappoint. All three Avalanche goals saw assists from Ritchie, with the first two being primary assists.

His first assist saw him possess the puck on the power play down low, drawing in three Ducks defenders, and then wiring a gorgeous apple to Jason Polin for the easy tap-in.

Ritchie’s second primary assist saw a set-play where Ritchie won the face-off (music to Colorado fans ears) directly to Oskar Olausson for a rocket into the back of the net.

Overall Ritchie’s line controlled play, back checked well (zero goals against), and looked like the only line in Colorado’s 21st ranked prospect pool that could compete with Anaheim’s first ranked squad.

Sean Behrens: Behrens is the only defender on the rookie roster most Avalanche fans will be familiar with by name, and he showed why. Behrens ran the power play and did a fantastic Cale Makar impression of the job with an assist. He was consistently noticeable with the puck on his stick and controlled the defensive zone well. Behrens seemed like the only Avalanche rookie defender really able to process odd-man rushes at speed and broke-up three such chances. The one blemish on Behren’s first game might sit for the final 1:49 of the game in the penalty box for a trip. That said, it seems like Cutter Gauthier is inflated with helium in the minds of the official who made that call, so I feel confident putting him here.

The Bad

Defenders not named Sean: The other five defenders on the ice for Colorado looked positively over matched by the speedy rookies in Anaheim’s class. The speedy rookies in Anaheim’s class repeatedly hemmed in the third pairing of Mitch Young and Connor Mayer, resulting in both of them allowing ugly goals against. There was a disastrous sequence where second pairing defenseman Garrett Pyke were caught standing still at the blue line when the puck had already been chipped past center ice. This left his partner Bryan Yoon alone in a two on one break and Yoon looked like a deer in the headlights. Instead of protecting his netminder by taking out either man, Yoon skated backwards slowly and then half-dove to prevent the cross-crease pass that had already been made. Marek Howell had the best day, but was almost invisible save for the penalty he committed. Not good.

Rilen Kovacevic: The fourth line right-wing for the rookie Avalanche sure had himself a night. Kovacevic found himself wide open on a breakaway early, only to wire it directly into Callie Clang’s pad. Gauthier burned him multiple times and he couldn’t get back in time to help the defense. He finished his night by taking two bad penalties, both of which were provoked by Anaheim players whom Rilen was jawing with all night. It’s rookie season, and this was certainly an immature performance.

The Ugly

The third goal against: Gauthier was very good. Rookie goalie for the Avalanche Vinny Duplessis was well on his way to making “the good” until the third goal happened. Gauthier came into the corner just beneath the goal line and sent the puck to the net, hoping for a crashing teammate. Instead, the puck hit the inside of Duplessis’ skate and deflected right into the back of the net. Rookie goaltending at its purest.

That’s a wrap for day one of the Rookie Face-off. Tomorrow the rookies face-off against the Seattle Kraken rookies at 4:00 P.M. MDT. You can stream the entire rookie tournament for free on Coloradoavalanche.com.

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