After a dynamic start to the season, the Colorado Avalanche have taken a massive step back. Can they recover from this sudden downfall?
In the first two months of the season, the Colorado Avalanche went 15-6-5, with Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon destroying every team in their path. Ever since December, they have been 6-11-3, slipping down the standings while the rest of the Western Conference heats up.
On Wednesday, they played the Calgary Flames and lost 5-3. Near the end of the third period, Nathan MacKinnon started yelling at head coach Jared Bednar to pull the goalie. He threw his water bottle with rage and all the tension through their losing stretch got let out in one very intense minute.
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Both the player and coach spoke to the media, downplaying the incident and it seemed like they patched things up.
But that altercation showed that there is something brewing in Colorado right now. The losing streak is starting to eat up the players and they are starting to get restless.
It’s not like their dominant top line has been slipping up, they have still been producing for the team. In the five games in January, MacKinnon has 7 points (2G 5A) and both Gabriel Landeskog and Rantanen have 6 points (three goals, three assists). The team is still scoring and in this cold stretch, they have only been shut out twice. Since December, they have played 19 games and in 10 of them, the Avalanche have scored at least three goals.
The team is fourth in the league in goals per game, seventh in total goals, and second in power play goals. However, their team save percentage is .898 (19th in the league), and allow 2.98 goals a game (20th in the league). Goaltending has been a huge issue for them lately and it has lead to this team’s struggles in games.
While the team’s defense isn’t the best, the goaltenders have been letting soft goals in and it has put a damper on the team’s spirit. When you have a leaky goaltender, doubt starts to could your mind. If you take a risk and it results in a turnover, you have to be able to trust that your goaltender will bail you out. If the trust isn’t there, players take fewer risks and nothing happens in the game.
Semyon Varlamov started the season hot, with a .950 save percentage in the month of October. In November it went down to a .905, in December it was a .874, and now it’s a .867. His backup Philipp Grubauer has been no better, with a .895 save percentage on the season.
Since December 4th, the Avalanche’s penalty kill has been ridiculously useless, killing only 66.1% of their penalties. The saying goes “your best penalty killer is your goaltender” and with Colorado, they are getting no support from their goaltenders.
The team has been on fire offensively, putting tons of shots on the opposing goalie, to no avail. When the puck goes the other way, it seems to always go in. As long as the Avalanche continue to produce offensively, the goaltending should right itself and they will be back to their winning ways.