The Colorado Avalanche had a busy weekend with a matinee against the Boston Bruins on Saturday, followed by a trip to New Jersey on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately for the Avalanche, the results were the same on both days.
The Avalanche forced overtime with a late count, but fell in the extra frame for the fourth time this season. There’s a lot to talk about, so let’s take a look at the Avalanche’s conclusions 4-3 overtime loss on Sunday afternoon.
The goaltending situation is starting to become problematic
The line-up is as it is now, as a few key pieces are available for now. The real problem seems to be in the net. There’s still no clear timetable for when Mackenzie Blackwood will be back, and it’s clear they don’t have a lot of faith in Trent Miner despite giving him the start against New Jersey.
Scott Wedgewood has done more than anyone could have asked for, but starting the first nine games of the season is too much for a career backup. Miner was just okay against the Devils, allowing a few goals that might have been nice shots but ultimately should have been put aside.
The Avalanche had no idea how long Blackwood would be out, or had poor planning to prepare for his absence. Expect to see Wedgewood consistently until Blackwood returns, which will hopefully be sooner rather than later.
Turnover becomes a major problem
There is a lot talking about the power play and rightly so. For a unit with that kind of talent, being in the bottom handful of teams in the league in power play percentage is inexcusable. But there is another topic that is receiving more attention: turnover.
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The Avalanche lead the league in giveaways with 177 and rank fourth in high-danger shots. They are by far the worst team in the league when it comes to giving up defensive zones with 93 (the New York Rangers are next at 75).
Talented, experienced teams tend to play a little looser than others, but this reaches a disadvantage. Goaltending and the power play have been issues for a variety of reasons, but turnovers are clearly the biggest problem the Avalanche are currently facing.
The early shortages are problematic
The turnovers are very poor, but it doesn’t help when you see the opposition ahead as often as the Avalanche do. They trailed the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 in the first period. The Bruins took the lead on Saturday. The Devils took a 2-0 lead in the first period on Sunday.
It doesn’t matter how good your team is or how much offensive firepower you have. The more often you play from behind, the more often you lose. The fact that the Avalanche have just one regulation loss is a testament to how good they are considering the number of deficits they have faced.
The previous takeaway and this one go hand in hand. Stop turning the puck over, especially in your own zone, and the early deficits won’t happen again. The Avalanche are playing with fire so far, but are second in the Western Conference in points. That’s lucky.
It is necessary to turn some of these overtime losses into wins
The bright side of things is that the Avalanche are getting at least a point out of the majority of these losses. That said, the Avalanche have already suffered five losses. A few bounces here and there and the Avalanche would instead be in eighth or ninth place in the West.
The good news is that the Avalanche have a lot of talent and experience. They’ve gotten out of worse situations before. The biggest problems can (in theory) be cleaned up and corrected. There is still a lot of season left and the Avalanche are still in a very good spot despite the problems.
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