Nathan MacKinnon split two New Jersey defenders at the red line, carved into the slot and beat Jake Allen under the glove. Thirty seconds later, Jaden Schwartz had made it 5-1, and Ball Arena could breathe again.
That surge in Wednesday’s third period sent Colorado past the Devils and up to 7-5-1, but it also fit the pattern the Avalanche have been living with through October: one night they look every bit like a division bully, the next they get dragged into trouble.
It started with a convincing 6-3 win over Tampa Bay on Friday. MacKinnon finished with a goal and three assists, Nazem Kadri scored his first of the season, and Jared Bednar called it “probably our most complete effort of the year.”
Then came Nashville. Two nights later, the Avalanche were on the wrong end of a 6-2 loss, with the Predators scoring four power-play goals on seven chances. Ryan O’Reilly and Steven Stamkos each scored twice, Nashville outshot Colorado 35-21, and the Predators’ general manager, Chris MacFarland, used to run the Avalanche.
Wednesday offered the bounce-back. Connor Brown put New Jersey ahead with a short-handed goal, Gabriel Landeskog answered on the power play, and Colorado buried the game in the third with goals from Kadri, Parker Kelly, MacKinnon and Schwartz in less than 10 minutes.
The win came with a few milestones sprinkled in. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 20 shots in his 300th NHL game.
Brent Burns reached 950 career points, moving past Erik Karlsson and Chris Chelios for 10th all-time among defensemen. Landeskog also became the franchise’s all-time hits leader.
But there was a problem too. Josh Manson left in the first period with a lower-body injury after falling awkwardly on a missed check, and that only adds to the pressure on a blue line that has already had issues killing penalties.
That matters because the Central Division picture has tightened fast. Colorado entered the season as the overwhelming favorite to repeat as division champ after last year’s 121-point Presidents’ Trophy run. One month in, the Avalanche are sitting fourth in the Central, with the gap to the top only five points and a game in hand on Minnesota.
Here’s where things stand entering play on October 29:
Team | Games Played | Record | Points
Minnesota Wild | 14 | 9-3-2 | 20
Utah Mammoth | 13 | 8-5-0 | 16
Dallas Stars | 12 | 7-4-1 | 15
Colorado Avalanche | 13 | 7-5-1 | 15
Nashville Predators | 12 | 4-3-5 | 13
Colorado still holds the top spot in the betting market, but the price has drifted again even after the New Jersey win. Minnesota’s month is being rewarded more than Colorado’s fireworks, and the reasons are easy to see.
The Avalanche are 5-1-1 at home, but just 2-4-0 on the road, and the penalty kill has become a real issue. Offense hasn’t been the concern; Artturi Lehkonen is tied for the NHL lead in high-danger goals and already hit double-digit goals before November.
So the question hanging over Colorado is a simple one: is a team with this much scoring talent and a 302-goal track record really a coin flip in its own division, or is the defensive slide something more serious?
Minnesota has made a strong case. Kirill Kaprizov has 14 goals in 14 games, making him only the eighth player in NHL history to score at least 14 in a single October.
Only Mario Lemieux and Brett Hull scored more in that month. The Wild host the Islanders on Thursday, which gives Kaprizov one more shot to pad the total.
Minnesota has also won three straight and went 3-1-1 on a five-game western road trip without Brock Faber, Filip Gustavsson, Marcus Foligno and Nick Foligno. Quinn Hughes has 18 points from the blue line, and Jesper Wallstedt is 8-2-2. The Wild are allowing just 2.21 goals per game, third best in the league, and their division price has tightened enough that they’re now the clear second choice and close enough to overtake Colorado with another good week.
Dallas is right there too. The Stars are tied with the Avalanche on 15 points, and they have a game in hand.
Jake Oettinger has been the difference, going 6-2-1 with a 1.43 goals-against average, a .929 save percentage and three shutouts in nine games. Dallas also has scoring from Mikko Rantanen, Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz, even if the power play still hasn’t fully clicked.
Tuesday’s 5-1 home loss to the Devils was a reminder that goaltending alone won’t carry a team to the top of the division, but the market still has Dallas and Utah almost side by side in the next tier.
Utah, meanwhile, is winning with firepower. The Mammoth are averaging 3.62 goals per game and converting at 34.8 percent on the power play.
Their 4-2 win in Edmonton, which snapped the Oilers’ five-game winning streak, showed what they can do when the offense is rolling. The concern is the other end: Utah is allowing 3.31 goals per game, and its penalty kill is near the bottom of the league at 67.4 percent.
For Colorado, November is where the answer starts to come into focus. Minnesota’s five-point lead looks sturdy right now, but the Wild have played 10 of their 14 games on the road. Their schedule should ease up, and Colorado’s should too if the Avalanche can bring their home form with them away from Denver.
The path for the Avalanche is clear enough. Fix the penalty kill, get Manson back, and turn the big scoring nights into something steadier.
The talent is still there to take control of the Central. The next month will show whether they can actually start playing like the team that ran away with the division a year ago.
In Other News...
Avalanche Jersey Leak Sparks An Awkward MacKinnon Landeskog Question
A leaked look at the Avalanches hometown remix jersey has already sparked more than the usual offseason chatter, and its not because of the color scheme. In the image, Nathan MacKinnon is shown wearing the captains C, which immediately stands out because Gabe Landeskog remains the teams current captain. For a club with as much recent history and star power as Colorado, even a small detail like that is enough to set off speculation.
It could be nothing more than a design mistake, or it could simply be a choice made for the jersey reveal that means far less than it appears. Still, the sight of MacKinnon in the captains role has invited a fresh round of questions about the Avalanches leadership hierarchy, especially given the way the team has handled captaincy in recent years. For now, though, theres no official sign that anything has changed, which leaves the jersey leak as a curiosity rather than a conclusion. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Suddenly Face A Bigger Question Than Just This Slump
The Avalanche were back on the ice after a rough recent showing, and Jared Bednar did not try to sugarcoat where things stand. Following practice, the coach addressed the teams struggles in a post-practice session, a sign that this skid has moved beyond a one-off bad night and into something that is forcing a closer look at how Colorado is handling the moment.
Artturi Lehkonen is part of that broader picture, too, with no contract extension in place as he heads toward unrestricted free agency. TSNs Chris Johnston provided some updates on the situation, adding another layer to a week in which the Avalanche are trying to steady their play while also facing an offseason question that could loom larger the longer this goes unresolved. [Read more 🡒]
Former Avalanche Forward Looks Like A Different Player Now
A.J. Greer is still finding new ways to change the shape of his career, and the latest example came in a recent overtime loss in which he scored twice. For a player who spent time with the Avalanche before moving on, the offense he is producing now looks a lot different from the version Colorado saw, and it has helped turn him into a more reliable NHL contributor.
Greers growth has been building for a while, highlighted by a career-best season with the Panthers and the four-year contract that followed. He has also put together multiple multi-goal nights at the NHL level, the kind of output that now makes his offensive breakout feel real rather than like a short-lived burst. [Read more 🡒]