The Colorado Avalanche keep finding new ways to make a simple night feel complicated.
Thursday’s trip to Nashville ended with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Predators, a result that fit the strange rhythm of their season. Colorado managed to salvage a point, but it also extended a stretch that has been defined by games the Avalanche usually don’t lose.
A 7-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets was one example. This one was another.
The biggest issue was in the crease, where Mackenzie Blackwood had enough in his game to win but still let in a goal he should have stopped. Vitali Pinchuk scored his first NHL goal on a shot that Blackwood should have 100 times out of 100.
It was the kind of goal that leaves everyone on the ice blinking for a second, including Pinchuk. Blackwood has been good enough to help this team win plenty of nights - he is 8-3-1 so far - but the Avalanche are also living with the reality that he will occasionally give up one that shouldn’t get through, and that kind of mistake can swing a game.
Colorado’s defense had its own problems around the net, especially on Nashville’s first goal. The Avalanche have been solid overall on that side of the puck, but the lapses are ugly when they show up, and they showed up at the wrong time against the Predators.
There were bright spots, too, and they came from the middle of the lineup. Jaden Schwartz kept doing what he’s been doing all season, scoring his seventh goal and tying Martin Necas for third on the team.
Parker Kelly added another one five minutes into the second period, his third of the year. He’s not tracking toward the 21-goal season he put together last year, but 15 goals while playing just under 13 minutes a night would still be a strong contribution from the bottom of the roster.
That kind of support matters because Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar can’t carry the load every single night, no matter how often they try. The Avalanche need the rest of the group to chip in, and on Thursday they got that from Schwartz and Kelly.
Still, the special teams continue to drag at the edges. Colorado went 0-for-3 on the power play and slipped to 20 th in the league at 20% success rate.
They had a chance late in the third period after Steven Stamkos was called for holding in a tied game, but couldn’t cash in. Then, in overtime, the Avalanche gave up a power play goal, which only sharpened the focus on both units.
The penalty kill sits 17 th, and the power play is 20 th. That’s not a catastrophe, but it is a problem for a team that wins so often at 5-on-5. Special teams helped decide this one, and now they’re getting harder to ignore.
The larger picture is less dramatic, but not exactly comforting. The Avalanche are still a good team and still in the playoff mix, yet they look stuck in a stretch where the answers aren’t obvious.
There’s no glaring flaw, just enough regression in enough places to make things feel heavier than they should. In a Central Division this tough, that kind of up-and-down play can’t last forever if Colorado wants to stay in the hunt for the division crown.
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