The Colorado Avalanche are back at Ball Arena on Thursday night with one clear task: leave their latest dud in the rearview mirror.
After a lifeless performance in their last outing, Colorado is looking for a reset against the Nashville Predators. The Avalanche showed little pushback in that game, and head coach Jared Bednar has already said changes are coming. What those changes look like is still to be seen, but the bigger issue hanging over this team is the same one that has followed them all season: consistency.
That makes this matchup less about panic and more about response. The Avalanche have enough experience in the room to know one bad night does not define a season, but they also know they can’t keep drifting through games and expect the results to clean themselves up. Thursday gives them a chance to show that the Columbus performance was an outlier, not a pattern.
There’s no reason to dress up what happened against Columbus. Colorado was flat, had almost no resistance, and never really put itself in position to climb back into the game. That’s the kind of outing that forces a team to look hard at the basics, and for the Avalanche, that means getting back to the habits that made them Presidents’ Trophy winners last season.
The Predators are not the kind of opponent Colorado can afford to treat casually, but they are also the kind of team the Avalanche should be able to control if they bring the right level of urgency. This is the spot where pace, structure and execution should all tilt Colorado’s way.
The goaltending conversation will keep circling, especially around Scott Wedgewood, but the crease is only part of the story. Colorado has been giving up too many high-danger chances, which leaves both MacKenzie Blackwood and Wedgewood in tough spots far too often. Blackwood has generally been the steadier option, while Wedgewood has had a rougher stretch, but neither can be expected to rescue the team every night.
The fix starts in front of them. The Avalanche need a more structured effort, cleaner exits, fewer giveaways and a better job of getting the puck out of danger. That kind of support would give both goalies a much better chance to settle in and do their jobs.
Bednar may also have some lineup decisions to weigh, though there’s no sign he’s about to blow things up. Up front, one thing to watch is whether Nazem Kadri stays at second-line center.
Brock Nelson has played well, but his offensive output still hasn’t quite reached what Colorado needs from him. Kadri in the middle of that group makes sense for now, especially with his ability to create offense and add some edge behind Nathan MacKinnon.
Nelson still has a role, but the challenge is finding the right mix without disturbing the chemistry that has already taken shape. The same goes for the blue line, where the Avalanche have plenty of talent but haven’t quite found the right formula lately. Splitting up Cale Makar and Devon Toews is at least something to consider if Bednar wants to shake up the pairings.
A wholesale overhaul doesn’t appear to be on the table. But some kind of adjustment may be necessary to get this team moving again.
The Avalanche don’t need to panic. They do need to answer.
And after what happened in Columbus, a complete effort against Nashville should be the minimum.
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Avalanche Have A Bigger Problem Than Scott Wedgewood
Scott Wedgewoods rough start in Colorado has put a spotlight on the Avalanches backup goaltending, but the bigger issue may be whats happening in front of him. Through five games, he has posted a 4.02 goals-against average and an .867 save percentage, numbers that reflect a goalie who has handled low-danger looks reasonably well while getting exposed when the chances get harder.
The concern for the Avalanche is that the shot quality against them has been too good too often, with too many high-danger opportunities and too many pucks reaching the net unblocked. In that light, the conversation is not just about Wedgewoods performance, but about how Colorado manages him in back-to-back situations and whether a different deployment plan can help limit the damage when the schedule tightens up. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Scoring Masked A Problem That Could Haunt Their Playoff Push
The Avalanches offense can still make a game look manageable in a hurry, but the 7-2 loss to the Blue Jackets was a reminder that scoring alone is not going to carry them through the spring. Colorado has been piling up goals, yet the bigger concern has been the other end of the ice, where goaltending consistency and defensive structure have become harder to ignore as the playoff race tightens.
Scott Wedgewoods recent struggles have only sharpened the conversation, while Mackenzie Blackwood is starting to look like the clubs primary option in net. Add in the injuries to Josh Manson and Zachary LHeureux, and the Avalanche are dealing with a thinner defensive picture than they would like this late in the season, with little margin for the kind of lapses that turned this one into a lopsided result. [Read more 🡒]
Colorado Eagles Suffer Brutal Late Collapse In Tight Loss
The Colorado Eagles had done enough to put themselves in position for a road result, but a late swing left them staring at a 2-1 loss to the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Gavin Brindley supplied Colorados lone goal, and for most of the night the Eagles were right there in a tight, low-scoring game that looked headed for a split of the small margins.
John Hayden spoiled that possibility with the game-winner coming with nine seconds left, turning a hard-fought contest into a brutal finish for Colorado. Nikke Kokko backed the Firebirds with 27 saves, while Trent Miner stopped 28 shots but was beaten twice in the defeat, a reminder of how quickly one late sequence can erase an otherwise solid effort. [Read more 🡒]