The Colorado Avalanche can light up a scoreboard with the best of them. What they can’t afford is letting their own power play turn into a shortcut for the other team.
That’s the awkward reality through seven games, after Colorado has given up three shorthanded goals. For a club loaded with high-end offensive talent, it’s an eye-catching problem - and one that showed up again Wednesday against the Dallas Stars.
Arttu Hyry turned a Dallas breakaway into a shorthanded goal early in the third period, putting the Stars ahead 2-1. Colorado recovered enough to force a tie when Brock Nelson scored his third goal of the season, but the Avalanche still came away with a 3-2 shootout loss. It was only their second regulation or overtime defeat of the season, but it was also another reminder that the man advantage has come with risk attached.
Even with that loss, the Avalanche entered Friday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at 4-2-1, and the offense has been rolling. Colorado had scored 31 goals in seven games, a pace of 4.43 per contest.
Nathan MacKinnon has been right in the middle of it, piling up five goals and seven assists. Cale Maker has added seven points from the blue line, giving Colorado another dangerous weapon in the attack.
The issue isn’t that the power play has completely stalled. The Avalanche have gone 5 for 25 with the man advantage, which is a 20 percent success rate. The concern is what happens when the puck gets away from them.
Opponents have already found ways to attack Colorado going the other direction, especially when the Avalanche load too many bodies into the offensive zone. Against Dallas, that showed up in full. Colorado went 0 for 4 on power-play chances and also surrendered the shorthanded goal that swung the game in the Stars’ favor.
That leaves Jared Bednar with a tricky balancing act. The Avalanche’s style is built on speed, imagination and defensemen jumping into the play.
That approach has made them one of the league’s most entertaining teams. But the source of that excitement is also where the danger lives, because there are times when structure and patience matter just as much as attack mode.
The answer doesn’t have to be a wholesale change. Colorado can keep the aggressiveness that drives its offense, but it has to be smarter about when to press. Better puck management near the blue line, cleaner support when possession changes and fewer open looks the other way would go a long way toward cutting off these breakdowns.
That matters now, and it matters even more later. A shorthanded goal in October can swing a game. The same mistake in April or May can swing a series.
Seven games is hardly enough time to define a season, and the Avalanche have plenty of runway left to clean this up. But the warning signs are already there: a team this gifted can’t keep handing away chances while it’s trying to create them. If Colorado solves that without dulling its offense, it becomes an even harder team to chase down.
In Other News...
Dave Hakstol Just Gave Avalanche Fans A Fast Reminder
Dave Hakstol wasted no time making an impression in Tempe, picking up his first win as Arizona States head coach in a 5-4 victory over UMass Lowell not long after leaving the Avalanche. The Sun Devils grabbed an early lead and then had to hang on through a late push, a familiar sort of test for any coach settling into a new job, and Hakstols rsum gives Arizona State reason to believe it has a steady hand guiding the program.
For Colorado fans, his quick success is a useful reminder of the experience Hakstol is taking with him. He arrives with a coaching background that stretches across both the collegiate and NHL ranks, and even in a new setting, he has already shown the kind of structure and resilience that can show up fast on the scoreboard. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Suddenly Have A Depth Forward Problem They Cant Fix Yet
The Avalanches forward depth is getting tested before they even get on the plane for a two-game road trip to Philadelphia and New Jersey. Zachary LHeureux and Nic Roy will stay behind because of injuries and are listed as day-to-day, while Logan OConnor also wont travel as Colorado continues to manage his return after a long absence.
OConnors situation is a little different, since he is healthy but will remain in Denver to get up to speed and because of salary cap considerations tied to his long-term injured reserve status. It leaves Colorado in a tricky spot for a stretch that already asks plenty of its lineup, and it is the sort of roster puzzle that can tighten quickly if the injuries linger even a little longer. [Read more 🡒]
Lehkonens Hot Start Is Putting Real Pressure On Colorado
Artturi Lehkonen has opened the season in a way that has given the Avalanche another problem worth having. With six goals in eight games, he has put together the best start of his career while once again showing why Colorado has always valued him for more than just the score sheet. He has long been the sort of player who can tilt a game with timely offense and steady two-way work, and this early surge only strengthens the case that he belongs in the clubs long-term plans.
The timing matters because Lehkonens contract is set to expire, which adds another layer to what is already shaping up as a key decision for Colorado. The Avalanche know what he has meant in big moments before, especially in the playoffs, and now they are seeing him provide even more regular-season production than usual. When a player with that track record starts this hot, it tends to sharpen the conversation quickly, even if the final answer is still ahead. [Read more 🡒]