The Colorado Avalanche showed Friday night exactly why Jared Bednar keeps pushing the same message: the talent is there, but the standard has to last all 60 minutes.
Against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado needed a period to wake up. By then, the damage had already been done. The Avs gave up two first-period goals, were outshot 14-5, and spent the opening 20 minutes chasing the game while Pittsburgh controlled play.
That kind of start is what bothered Bednar after the win.
“When we decide to play and play the right way with the right level of, for me, it's intensity and discipline, then we're a really good team and we're playing well,” Bednar said following the victory.
“We have to find a way to get it there for 60 minutes. This is all I told them (after the first). The rest is on our leadership to get ready and they took it to heart.”
That was the heart of the night for Colorado. Once the Avalanche finally settled in, the game flipped fast.
Artturi Lehkonen sparked the turnaround with the first of his two goals, cutting into the deficit and shifting the momentum. Rookie T.J.
Hughes followed later in the second period with his first NHL goal, and from there Colorado never gave the lead back. Nathan MacKinnon added a power-play goal in the third, Lehkonen finished his second of the night, and the Avalanche rolled to a 5-2 win.
The result was a reminder of what this roster can do when it’s locked in. With Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Martin Necas and other familiar names in the lineup, offensive firepower is rarely the issue.
Colorado can take over games. It just doesn’t always do it right away.
That’s the part Bednar can’t ignore. The comeback against Pittsburgh was real, but so was the sluggish start that made it necessary in the first place. Falling behind by two goals and waiting an entire period to hit another gear is not a habit this team can lean on.
There’s value in knowing a team can recover and still seize control. There’s also a clear warning in depending on second-period fixes and late surges. Against the best teams in the NHL, that approach won’t always save you.
Colorado’s loss to Toronto exposed defensive breakdowns and inconsistent goaltending. The games against Dallas showed how difficult it can be for even elite players to generate offense against disciplined opposition.
So the Penguins game gave the Avalanche both sides of the picture: proof of their ceiling, and evidence of the inconsistency Bednar keeps pointing to.
Now Colorado heads into a two-game road trip with more tests ahead. The Avalanche visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday and the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.
Injuries are already cutting into the forward group, and when that is combined with uneven play from healthy bodies, the margin gets thin quickly. Bednar is not questioning whether this team can compete. He’s asking for more consistency, more urgency, and a better habit of showing it from the opening faceoff to the final horn.
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For the Avalanche, the appeal is obvious enough to be part of the buzz. They do have goaltending options, but a name like Hellebuyck can change the temperature of a situation quickly if Winnipeg opens the door. Buffalo has also been floated as a possible fit, and for now this remains speculation rather than a clear-cut market, but Colorado would be wise to stay attentive if the Jets posture shifts once Hellebuyck is back in the picture. [Read more 🡒]
Former Avalanche Forward Is Already Stirring Questions About Colorados Decision
Jack Drury is already making an early impression in Nashville, and that is bound to get a little extra attention back in Colorado. In the Predators 5-2 win over the St. Louis Blues, Drury scored his first goal with his new team after being moved by the Avalanche in the offseason, then signing a five-year deal to stay put in Nashville.
For Colorado, it is a familiar kind of offseason storyline: a player the organization once added in a trade is now settling in elsewhere and starting to show why another club valued him enough to commit long term. Drury had already spent time with the Avalanche after coming over from the Carolina Hurricanes, so this is less about a strangers breakthrough than a former depth piece reminding his old team what it gave up. [Read more 🡒]