Denver, CO — The final horn rang as I waited with members of the media to enter the room for the scrum after Colorado’s 5-2 win over the visiting New Jersey Devils. As the wait dragged on, I thought about the three goals that had happened since I moved from the press box to the locker room line.
Nathan MacKinnon added another page to his book of patented speed-burst, net-driving goals, Jaden Schwartz hammered home a rebound, and the Avalanche gave up another goal to Connor Brown.
If I’m being honest,
I didn’t think Nathan MacKinnon had his best game that night, but it’s hard to say after he beat two defenders and Devils goalie Jake Allen in highlight fashion on the way to victory.
For much of the contest, the team still felt a bit disjointed. We saw errant passes, one-and-done offensive possessions, breakdowns, and yet another shorthanded goal against.
I felt the Avalanche might fall into yet another game where they outshot their opponent but still lost. Something Avalanche fans have seen time and time again.
Instead, the Avalanche gained a bit of steam while the Devils hit a wall in the second of a back-to-back. Gabe Landeskog and the second power-play unit tied it at one goal apiece, and Nic Roy made a beautiful pass to Nazem Kadri, who gave the Avalanche a lead that they wouldn’t give up.
Now, make no mistake: the shot log showed the Avalanche were getting more shots on net and, in general, controlling play, but that control and effort weren’t translating into scoreboard results, which, given the earlier struggles, was a bit concerning.
My train of thought was interrupted as the press door opened for the locker room scrum, but I ended up thinking about the question: will the Avalanche see this as a good all-around performance, or another mediocre night that benefited from a tired NJ team?
When questions came to Gabe Landeskog, who wore the player-of-the-game chain (a blinged-out chain with an Avalanche pendant), I got the sense the win eased some of the anxiety and that the captain was overall happy with their performance.
“I thought it was great,” Landeskog mentioned. “We didn’t get rewarded until the third period, but I thought we did a good job of sticking with it.” Colorado’s recent struggles were clearly top of mind. “We wanted to make sure we just bounced back and played our game…”
The scrum then moved to Nazem Kadri, who stood at his stall for questions. “I think a lot of guys have chemistry in here.” Naz mentioned, when asked about the chemistry he seemed to have with Nic Roy on his goal, “I think that’s a great part of our team,” he added.
Parker Kelly was the subject of the final player availability and was asked what was said between the second and third period to inspire the comeback victory, “Nothing really; just stick with it. I think everyone in the room here felt pretty confident that we’d been owning the game for a bit, and if we just stuck to it, things were gonna start going our way.” When asked if he saw this victory as a get-right-win, “Yeah, for sure, I think everyone can leave the rink today feeling good about their game.”
Press members then made the trek from the locker room back to the press lounge where Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar sat comfortably waiting for us to get started.
When asked about what changed between phases of the game, Bednar said, “I liked our first period, actually. We didn’t create as much in the first offensively, but on the defensive side I thought we were really good.” Bednar saw strong defensive effort for 40 minutes.
So what in the world was I picking up on regarding this contest? I was half expecting more of a “yeah we got the win, but it’s still not good enough,” and instead I got, “That was our best 60 minutes of hockey all year.”
Well, I think it’s important to consider how the victory frames successes, delegitimizes criticism, and whether that’s always appropriate. Part of what I just said is common sense, but I am a detail-oriented guy, and that approach leaves me a bit confused at times, since the details suggest not much has been solved for Colorado.
A whopping 20 giveaways against the Devils in a victory is four more than the 16 everyone was up in arms about against the Flyers in defeat.
A 50% power play is great, but the context- the first unit giving up a shorthanded goal and the second unit breaking through- isn’t as uplifting. That’s a net-zero advantage, as far as I’m concerned.
Moreover, in the days since the presser I just detailed, the Avalanche have fallen right back into their road woes, going down 2-0 to the lowly Blackhawks before staging a comeback. Then they got right back to it against Columbus, who dominated the Avs from start to finish.
The underlying metrics suggest my eyes may have been fooled by Nathan MacKinnon, who had a strong 5-on-5 expected goals percentage (73.57%) and the best 5-on-5 Corsi percentage (80.56%) among Avalanche skaters that night against the Devils.
Still, I stand behind my eye-test observations of Nathan MacKinnon, who is undoubtedly one of the most talented hockey players in the world. That fact shouldn’t make him immune to criticism, and I haven’t seen as much consistency in the effort department as I’m used to.
Keep in mind that I’ve seen Nathan MacKinnon play on just about every stage there is, from the Olympic Gold Medal Game or Stanley Cup Clincher to game 14 of the regular season. The version of Nate that the Avalanche have seen so far this year can always affect a game, but doesn’t always seem engaged in doing so.
Of course he won’t skate in game 14 of the regular season as he does in the gold medal game, but the gap between those two versions of Nate feels too large right now.
Nathan MacKinnon has 27 points in the 16 games played so far, which is elite-level production. It’s hard to admonish someone with that stat line, but in more than half of Colorado’s seven losses, MacKinnon has been held pointless.
I understand a matured MacKinnon has no need to will his team to victory this early in the season, but this is the same group that harkened back to “good habits” and didn’t flip the switch while chasing a Presidents’ Trophy last season. MacKinnon also said something at training camp that has stuck with me ever since: “We have to find ways to make the regular season enjoyable.”
So what is this team’s identity in the here and now?
Are they going with the 2025-26 Vegas approach, taking it easy in 2026 so they have the legs in 2027, or does the expectation never change because they have to build on good habits?
It’s time for the Avalanche to pick a lane, as it feels like we have learned nothing about them in terms of the big-picture concerns we may have. They still fall behind early, still give up short-handed goals, and still don’t start on time.
They outscored their problems against a tired New Jersey squad, and did the same against a lesser Blackhawks team. It was tough to get more than seven against the Blue Jackets, though.
In my first installment of ‘Readin the Room,’ I mentioned that at camp the Avalanche were jovial, with little tension or panic in the room. I ended that work with “let’s see how that changes throughout the season,” and well, as we sit today, it’s gotten a bit tighter around the collar.
Conversations with other press members have shifted from critiquing little things to contemplating philosophical approaches and taking turns answering the question, “what’s going on with this team?”
If this article feels slow to get to you folks, it’s because I thought about not posting it at all after the Avs won two straight. I thought to myself, Adrian, you are getting caught up in the short-term results; just let it go.
Well, I tried to let this article go, but once I heard Jared Bednar say, “We’re a fifth of the way through the year now, so now I have to change my approach,” on the heels of an embarrassing 7-2 defeat, in talks with Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette, I had to fire it off.
Clearly Bednar is seeing a bit of what I’m talking about as well.
On Altitude Sports Radio, Jared Bednar elaborated on his quote with this: “Well, it just means I can’t be too patient on the bench if I notice a player, a line, a D pair, a defenseman, like if we’re not going on a certain night and I know we’re not going, I can’t be too patient and keep playing guys to see if they’re going to come around because the results aren’t coming with it, you know what I mean?”
It sounds like the leash is shortening, and that we may see more obvious benching and demotion-style usage if things don’t start to turn around soon.
We will see exactly what that looks like tonight against the Nashville Predators back on home ice.
Let us know what you think of the Colorado Avalanche’s current state in the comments!
