Dude, where’s Makar?
They need you, Cale. The Dallas Divers can spot a sucker in pinstripes from a mile away. Five games in, it’s looking like a split decision, and the Avalanche is trailing on the scorecards of all three judges.
Not that it’s been a fair fight, mind you. This Stars roster is full of divers and divas. Jamie Benn turned in another Oscar-worthy tumble during the Avalanche’s 6-2 loss in Game 5. Maybe he got tired of all the love Mason Marchment has been getting from the Academy lately.
“Couple of those are preseason calls,” Avs captain Gabe Landeskog, whose amazing comeback story is a loss away from heading home for the summer, told reporters. “Regardless, we’ve got to fight through it and keep playing.”
Meanwhile, can anyone remember a Stanley Cup series where Cale Makar has ever felt more invisible? When Colorado coach Jared Bednar decreed that his Avs had “too many passengers” back in January, no one could’ve pegged Cale as a candidate to flail. Or that the 2022 Conn Smythe Trophy winner, the best defenseman of his generation, would look like one of the guys just along for the ride.
Yet here we are. And when it comes to Denver’s Great 8, something’s … off. Something’s … wrong.
The Avs are down 3-2 in this best-of-seven opening round series, and Makar’s collected two points — and no goals — through five games. That’s the lowest postseason point total he’s ever managed in a series in which the speedy D-man made at least four appearances.
The Calgary native collected three points over four games in a first-round sweep of the Blues to open the 2021 postseason and three again in the series against St. Louis in the Avs’ six-game victory in 2022. Which was also the last time he was held without a goal through his first five starts in a postseason tussle.
“(Makar) had a little bit of a rough start to the series, but he was absolutely outstanding at home,” Bednar told reporters late Monday. “So yeah, we’ve had a few guys that struggled in (American Airlines Center) and played good at home. That’s a bright spot, going back to our building.”
Game 5 was Makar’s 26th career playoff game without a point. The Avs are 10-16 in those games. (Flip side? They’re 38-13 when he notches at least one.)
Game 6 at Ball Arena Thursday night is do-or-die. Makar’s appeared in 10 postseason elimination games already over a young career. He’s only gone without a point in three of those — and the Avs lost all three.
Although to be fair to Cale, the Avs suddenly have a lot of passengers on Lord Stanley’s Struggle Bus. Nathan MacKinnon (five goals) and Logan O’Connor (two) have accounted for almost half of the team’s total goal count (15), while former or current top 6 fixtures Martin Necas, Brock Nelson and Jonathan Drouin have yet to find the back of the net through five appearances.
“You’ve heard me say it all along,” Bednar continued. “It’s going to come down to playing good teams that finish in similar spots in the standings, so you’ve got to go play your best hockey for two weeks in order to win, right? If you’ve got good players having bad nights, it’s not your best hockey. (If) you’re firing on all cylinders the other night, like Game 3 and Game 4, things start to look a lot better.”
The Avs have been too maddeningly inconsistent this series to count on anything, though. And, more troubling, there’ve been times when those old, ugly signs of past Colorado playoff letdowns start rearing their ugly heads.
Whether it’s Nikola Jokic or MacKinnon, it’s not the best sign when a league MVP loses their cool on the bench. For Joker, that was in San Francisco — days before Michael Malone got fired.
For Mighty MacK, it was with 15:04 left in the second period Monday night, with his Avs down 3-0 and staggering to get out Texas in one piece. Cameras caught MacKinnon stressing something to fellow center Charlie Coyle as the they left the ice, a point that Coyle seemed to refute, based on his body language.
Whatever was said, something clicked, as an Artturi Lehknonen tip and a gorgeous MacKinnon snapshot trimmed the Dallas lead to 3-2. Alas, that momentum didn’t last long — the Divers tacked on two goals over 1:44 to wrest momentum away for the night.
“There were some plays where almost uncharacteristic mistakes, here and there, but stuff’s going to happen,” Landeskog said. “It was more … some of the routes we took and gave up some odd man rushes more than usual, just a bit uncharacteristic.”
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Going into Game 5, the Albertan ranked 11th among Avs players in Average Game Score (1.05) through Games 1-4. And that trailed fellow D-men Devon Toews (1.30), Sam Malinski (1.75) and Samuel Girard (2.03).
“Yeah, you’re always concerned (at) this time of year,” Bednar said. “You can’t have guys having bad nights this time of the year.”
You can’t have your stars disappear. Especially when DeBoer’s Staggering Stars are smelling blood.
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