The Colorado Avalanche were getting crushed Sunday in a game they ended up losing 5-1, their playoff chances were slipping away, but Matt Duchene looked pretty thrilled to get his 30th goal. And that didn't make coach Patrick Roy too happy.
"The thing I have a hard time is the reaction of Dutchy after he scores. It's a 4-0 goal ... big cheer. Are you kidding me? What is that?" Roy said. "I mean, it's not the [reaction] we want from our guys, not at all."
Duchene tipped in a shot by Mikkel Boedker with 4:14 remaining to avoid a shutout. But it was way too little too late. The Avs are five points behind the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with only three games to play.
After the game, Duchene said all the right things.
"If you're not in playoffs, [scoring 30 goals] doesn't really mean as much as you want it to mean. No one remembers that. And no one cares," the 25-year-old said.
Roy still questioned the leadership of his team, however.
"We have some good leadership, but not enough from our core. Our core hasn't proved that they have the leadership to bring this team to another level. Eventually we have to admit it. I love these guys. I think [captain Gabriel Landeskog] is pretty much alone in that. I think [Eric Johnson] is trying. We need more from these guys," Roy said.
"Our core players are having a hard time carrying this team. That's the bottom line."