Then they reminded everyone of how quickly they can turn a game with their offensive firepower.

Colorado yielded four goals in an ugly second period, but rallied for a 6-5 victory that was far more about the result than the overall process. The Avs had lost five of six before this, but one strong period bailed them out.

“We felt like we were outplaying them, and (coach Jared Bednar) came in and agreed with us,” Avs center Nathan MacKinnon said. “It feels like every mistake we make right is costing us, so we have to be careful. … It felt like we had generated a lot of chances and could have been up. We had a lot of belief.”

The Avs scored three times in 4:10 during the third to erase a 5-3 deficit. Ross Colton scored on a broken play to pull the Avalanche within one.

Mikko Rantanen scored a goal for the first time in 10 games to tie it up. It was a greasy one, a rebound of a Cale Makar shot with multiple bodies around the crease. Then MacKinnon got in behind the Calgary defense for the game winner with 4:30 left.

“I think it was important,” Makar said. “Obviously you don’t always want it to be a shootout, but … it’s good to build that confidence knowing that regardless of how many goals we’re down, we can come back. I think that’s something we lacked at the beginning of the year. When we would get down a couple goals, we kind of backed down. For us, it was a big character win and shows where everybody’s hearts are at.”

If this night wasn’t wild enough, Rantanen had some pointed comments after the game. Artturi Lehkonen’s father, Ismo, is a hockey analyst for Yle, a national media outlet in Finland.

Ismo Lehkonen was quoted in a Yle story Monday morning, connecting Rantanen’s recent slump to a bad offseason.

“One of our Finnish NHL player’s dad was talking (expletive) about me in media, that I didn’t train last summer like I used to,” Rantanen told reporters after the game. “He was making things up. That was for him.

“If you talk (expletive), it’s going to come back at you.”

One of Bednar’s talking points over the past two days was turnovers and yielding scoring chances off them. Most of the mistakes he was referencing were happening on the other team’s side of the ice, but Colorado’s top players coughed up the puck on their side before former Avalanche center Nazem Kadri opened the scoring.

Devon Toews tried a long cross-ice pass to Rantanen that was broken up. Rantanen had two chances to get the Avs out of danger, but his pass was intercepted by Blake Coleman and he fed Kadri for a shot from the high slot.

The Colorado players felt like they weren’t making that many mistakes, but there were several in the middle period that ended up in the Avalanche net.

Andrew Mangiapane and Yegor Sharangovich scored goals on coverage busts in the high-danger area in front of Alexandar Georgiev. Connor Zary batted one out of the air after the Avs won a defensive-zone faceoff had a chance to clear the puck but could not. Blake Coleman scored on a relatively straightforward rush play.

Georgiev allowed five goals on 22 shots before being replaced by Ivan Prosvetov for the final period.

There were other positives at the offensive end. Tomas Tatar scored his first goal of the season after a great play from Ross Colton. Makar scored the club’s first power-play goal in 17 opportunities. Ben Meyers added a fourth-line tally in his first game with the Avs this season.

If there is a silver lining with the defensive miscues on this particular night, it’s that Colorado’s best players were at fault. Makar was on the ice for four of Calgary’s goals. Toews, MacKinnon and Rantanen were out there for three.

Those players have earned the benefit of the doubt in the big picture. And they were largely the ones who propelled the Avs to a dramatic comeback victory.

“That’s been a little bit of a trend. They carry our team, and yet they’ve been making some big mistakes that are ending up in the back of our net,” Bednar said. “There’s a high level of trust from me. They have to understand that some of the mistakes or decisions we make are unacceptable, but they’re still going to be able to get rope to go play the way they can.”

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A couple of key forwards are not producing at expected levels. Several forwards aren’t scoring enough at even strength. The power play has gone dry. And coach Jared Bednar has expressed displeasure with the types of scoring chances the team has allowed of late via turnovers and mistakes.

That’s a lot to sort through, and some of the issues are more concerning than others. But Mikko Rantanen playing his way out of an uncharacteristic slump could be the Avs’ simplest path back to their winning ways.

Rantanen has not scored a goal in the past nine games, and he doesn’t have a point in the past three contests.

“You try to learn from the games you play and when you go through a slump a little bit, it takes mental toughness,” Rantanen said Monday morning ahead of the Avs’ game against Calgary at Ball Arena. “You can’t get down on yourself, because then it’s over. You’ve got to try and reset. Sometimes you get frustrated, but you can’t let that get into your game because then it is hard to come back from that.

“It takes a lot of the mental side to try and reset before every game. I don’t really switch too much, just try to learn more. Like what can you do better to maybe get the puck more and be more effective.”

This is the longest stretch of Rantanen’s career without a goal since he had two similar streaks in the 2017-18 season. He went nine games without one early in that season, then 10 in a row in late January/early February.

Rantanen went four games without a point in October last season, but he still finished with career-highs in goals (55) and points (105). He’s had other stretches in his career that were short on goals, but still high on assists and general impact.

Before the game Saturday night against Philadelphia, Rantanen wasn’t creating as many chances as he typically does, beyond not scoring any goals. Bednar moved him to center at the start of the game against the Flyers, but eventually moved him back to the wing next to Nathan MacKinnon and Valeri Nichushkin.

Rantanen finished the game with six shots on goal, his second-most of the season. Natural Stat Trick credited him with eight scoring chances, which was a season high. It felt like a step in the right direction, even if the streak wasn’t snapped.

“You can’t be thinking about the past too much because tonight is a new chance to play a good game,” Rantanen said. “It’s tough. It also rubs you the wrong way mentally, but that’s when good players, great players, you’ve got to stick with it. You can’t fold, you can’t quit because nothing is going your way. And then sometimes when you’re on a hot streak, sometimes you don’t even play that well and then you get two goals off your (butt), basically. It goes like that sometimes.”

Moving Rantanen to center bumped Ryan Johansen to the fourth line and Fredrik Olofsson out of the lineup. Johansen actually ended up playing more in the game than he had in any contest since Nov. 15. He also collected his second assist of the year, and his first at 5-on-5.

The lineup has been in flux in part because of key players being absent, but also because Bednar continues to tinker and try to find combinations he likes … at both ends of the ice.

“I think we have the depth, but we do have some guys that are struggling,” Bednar said. “We have a lot of guys that haven’t scored in quite some time at 5-on-5. So I have to look at chance generations and chance suppression, not just the goals. Our numbers on the creation side of it over the course of the year have been good, even really good actually in a lot of areas.

“It’s the defending side that is hurting us. Now we’ve got to look at it and make sure we have responsible lines so we can play all four of them.”

Look no further than any preseason Stanley Cup odds. The five teams that had the best odds to win a title per BetMGM were sixth, 11th, 14th, 19th and 25th in the league standings after the games Friday night. The most recent Stanley Cup champions were first, sixth, 15th, 20th, 18th and 21st.

There’s enough data to start to form some opinions, and to identify some weaknesses. There is time for disappointing teams to get it together, but it’s unlikely that they all will.

This field feels pretty wide open. The 2021 Tampa Bay Lightning or 2022 Colorado Avalanche would almost certainly be a significant favorite against anyone in the NHL right now. But those teams aren’t going to be in the 2024 tournament.

Which teams look like true Stanley Cup contenders? Which ones have started well but aren’t actually threats to win 16 playoff games?

Note: Records are as of the results on Dec. 8

Nice start, see you in a couple years

Philadelphia Flyers (14-10-2)

Detroit Red Wings (14-7-4)

Arizona Coyotes (13-10-2)

All three of these teams would be in the playoffs if they started today, which would make this season a no-doubt success. All three have young players to build around. The future is intriguing, but the present is still about building to get there someday.

The window is closing

New York Islanders (11-7-7)

This core made it to the conference finals twice, but this roster isn’t contender quality and there’s little flexibility to make it any better.

Washington Capitals (12-8-3)

Haven’t won a series since winning the Cup, and the Sharks have more goals right now.

Calgary Flames (11-12-3)

It doesn’t feel like it was that long ago that this team fancied itself a contender, but it’s much closer to tear-down and try something else time than one tweak or one trade from a deep playoff run.

Nice start, but we don’t buy it

Vancouver Canucks (17-9-1)

Our ability to analyze teams with advanced stats has progressed beyond just Corsi and PDO, but sometimes the combination of a very high shooting percentage with a very high save percentage equals a big red flag.

Boston Bruins (17-5-3)

The flameout last year is not why they land here. If anything, NHL history is littered with teams that bounce back from that type of situation to win. It’s the centers. The numbers can look almost as good or just as good … but that center depth chart has to be a problem in April/May, right?

Bad start, but we might still buy it

Tampa Bay Lightning (12-11-5)

They’ve allowed 99 goals, third-most in the league. Andrei Vasilevskiy has missed most of the season. Check back in a month or so.

Pittsburgh Penguins (11-12-3)

Everyone reading this has scored as many NHL power-play goals as the Penguins since Nov. 11. The goaltending is better, Erik Karlsson has been very good … so fix the power play and this might still work.

Get back to us when you find some goaltending

Edmonton Oilers (11-12-1)

Carolina Hurricanes (14-11-1)

New Jersey Devils (13-10-1)

Hey look, it’s three of those teams that had top-five odds at the start of the year. They’re second, third and fourth in expected goals percentage at 5-on-5. The rosters look great. They can score with anyone … and nobody would pick any of them to win anything with goalies that can’t stop 88% of the shots they face.

Nice team, but … 16 wins?

Toronto Maple Leafs (13-6-4)

Florida Panthers (16-8-2)

Winnipeg Jets (15-8-2)

These are the best of the rest. Toronto has the high-end talent, but the defense is a mess and the goaltending is a big question mark. Florida and Winnipeg have no obvious red flags, but both also just feel a player or two short. Both of those teams could probably beat anyone in a seven-game series. Can either of them win four series though? The Panthers got close last year, but 13 wins is often further away from 16 than fans tend to believe.

The no-doubt contenders

Vegas Golden Knights (17-5-5)

The defending champs look great. We’re nitpicking, but it’s still hard to believe that goaltending group will conjure up the same magic again. It’s really hard to repeat, but it’s also hard to see a scenario where the Golden Knights don’t play deep into the spring again.

Colorado Avalanche (16-8-2)

They could use Artturi Lehkonen and Samuel Girard back and healthy, and maybe an addition before the deadline if the finances can work. But this team finds a level of play that few others can get to. Will they be able to get there enough for two months when it matters?

Dallas Stars (15-7-3)

Are the three best teams in the NHL in the Western Conference? That’s what it says here. The Stars and Avalanche have very similar profiles right now. The two favorites in the Central could be barreling towards a titanic second-round matchup.

New York Rangers (18-5-1)

The underlying 5-on-5 numbers aren’t great, but the special teams are and Igor Shesterkin can be better. Wouldn’t bet on them against any of the “Big Three” in the West, but Shesterkin could get them over the finish line if they get to the Final.

Los Angeles Kings (16-4-3)

The high end of the roster doesn’t quite line up with the others here, but the center depth is great and the underlying numbers are no joke. A reason to possibly buy stock now in both the Rangers and Kings: Alexis Lafreniere and Quinton Byfield, the top two picks in the 2021 draft, are starting to look like top-two picks and might give these teams an extra half gear when they need it.

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That was true about the effort Saturday night against the Philadelphia Flyers, but the mistakes were more frequent and more damaging. Travis Konecny scored twice, including an insurance goal on a penalty shot midway through the third period, to help propel the Flyers to a 5-2 win against the Avalanche at Ball Arena.

“We’re turning the puck over too much,” Avs forward Andrew Cogliano said. “I think as a forward group we need to understand who we are. We have some of the best players in the world, but the other guys have to realize that sometimes putting the puck in (the offensive zone) and getting momentum and forechecking and wearing teams down that way is better than trying to make a play at the blue line and turning it over.

“It seems like we’re doing way too much of that.”

That’s also five losses in six games (1-3-2) for the first time this season, though the two extra points for losing after regulation blunt some of the negative impact for the Avs. Still, this wasn’t the response the club was looking for after just an OK showing against Winnipeg in this building two nights prior.

Avs coach Jared Bednar continued to tinker with the lineup, both before this contest started and while it was ongoing. Mikko Rantanen, who has not scored a goal in nine games, began the game as the second-line center, but eventually moved back to his normal role next to Nathan MacKinnon on the top line. Ryan Johansen was demoted to the fourth line at the outset of this one.

“I started (Rantanen) there because I wanted to get him skating,” Bednar said. “I still want to see him there. But I popped him out there with Mac and Val (Nichushkin) a couple times and felt like all three of those guys were playing hard and could maybe make something happen on the offensive side of it.”

Konecny put the Flyers on the board at 17:41 of the first period. There was a long outlet pass in Sean Couturier’s direction. He jostled with Johansen for control of the puck just inside the Avalanche blue line, then fed Konecny with a great pass in behind two Colorado players.

MacKinnon responded 78 seconds later. Just like the Flyers goal, the play started at the other end. MacKinnon collected a cross-ice pass from Josh Manson along the left boards in the neutral zone, and then blew past three Flyers before tucking a shot off goalie Carter Hart into the net.

It was MacKinnon’s 11th goal of the season and his 11th straight game with a point. While the lineup continues to be in flux around him, MacKinnon continues to be one of the league’s most dominant players over the past several weeks.

Former University of Denver star Bobby Brink set up Philadelphia’s second goal midway through the second period. Brink banked a pass off the left boards to help propel Owen Tippett beyond Manson and in alone on Avs goalie Ivan Prosvetov. That allowed Tippett to score on his own rebound after a nifty bit of work to corral a bouncing puck.

Travis Sanheim scored a little more than two minutes later after a sequence where the Avs were a step slow and chasing the Flyers around their own end.

Manson scored his second goal of the season 71 seconds after the Flyers’ third tally to get Colorado back within one. Johansen won the faceoff back to Manson, and his shot went off the stick of a Flyers player en route to the net.

Konency’s penalty shot and a Joel Farabee goal set up by Brink just 46 seconds later put this one out of reach with half a period still to play.

“The biggest thing that is bothering me is we’re finding the rhythm of our game for 10-minute stretches, but then we’re shooting ourselves in the foot,” Bednar said. “… Our decisions on some of the scoring chances against and the goals against right now are just not good.”

Footnotes: Captain Gabriel Landeskog was at the morning skate. Bednar said Landeskog will be around the team more regularly in the near future. Landeskog has been rehabbing his knee injury in Toronto, but Bednar said he’s in the process of getting his family settled again in Denver. Landeskog has been ruled out for the regular season, but he and the club have left the possibility open that he could return during the postseason. … Artturi Lehkonen (neck) skated before the team’s optional practice Friday. Bednar said his injury typically has a 10-to-12 week timeline, but he’s progressing well and they aren’t ruling out him being ready before that. Lehkonen has been out of the lineup since crashing into the boards Nov. 9 against Seattle.

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The former phenom struggled to cope with meeting the great expectations that accompanied his return home to his native Montreal to play for his beloved Canadiens.

When he arrived in Denver, it felt like a fresh start. So when the early part of this season didn’t go the way he had originally envisioned, Drouin was more prepared to handle the adversity than his younger self back in “la belle province.”

“Way differently,” Drouin said when asked how he handled it. “… Me and Tuna (Tomas Tatar) got scratched that one day. You could take that so many bad ways. I think me and him took it the right way. We just put our heads down and went to work.

“You look at Nate (MacKinnon), every day he does the same thing. He’s always working on stuff. Some games are good and some aren’t, but if you’re doing your work good stuff is going to happen.”

The good times eventually arrived for Drouin. He’s been one of Colorado’s best players over the past few weeks, providing an offensive boost at a time when the Avs have needed it. The production isn’t stunning, but three goals and seven points in the past 14 games has him trending in the right direction.

There’s been an impact beyond just the points, as well. Coach Jared Bednar moved him onto the top power-play unit because he wanted an injection of creativity. He’s also had chances to play on the top line next to his old buddy MacKinnon again after being moved off it earlier in the year.

“The key is (Drouin) has really picked up his game. Mac is going to be Mac. He’s going to do his thing. When you’re placing players with Mac, you want them to really be on top of their game so that everyone can benefit. That’s where we feel like (Drouin) is right now,” Bednar said.

“The biggest thing for me with him is he put in some work on video, and then the pace of the game and the way he can use skating in order to make plays and be elusive, that’s really picked up. Not just recently. He’s playing well. You can see all the skill and ability, and he’s been responsible on the defensive side of it. He’s really taken ownership of that and working on it. He’s turning into a good 200-foot player for us.”

Drouin has played more than 46 minutes in the past two games with Valeri Nichushkin out of the lineup. Without Nichushkin (illness) and Artturi Lehkonen (neck), the Avs are short half of their six top wings. Mikko Rantanen began the season scorching hot but has cooled of late while working through a funk.

The Avs signed Drouin and Tatar to provide scoring depth, but right now Denver needs someone to take more of a leading role.

“I think it’s been a couple weeks now where I feel like I’m building on something,” Drouin said. “I just feel like it’s instincts now. I’m comfortable. I’m not thinking. I’m just playing hockey. I know our systems and what we want to do. When you’re a player like me, when I’m thinking or overthinking, that’s when I start making mistakes and my feet stop moving. When I’m on instincts, my feet move and I make better plays.”

Bednar alluded to Drouin’s all-around play, but he also hasn’t shied away from some of the physical aspects of the game. He hasn’t been floating near the edge of battles in the corners, waiting for someone else to dig out the puck for him.

No one is going to confuse Drouin for Kurtis MacDermid, but he’s been involved in a couple of post-whistle skirmishes that went beyond the typical, “OK, you shoved me, I face-washed you, let’s we move on” situations.

“There’s an edge there, for sure,” Drouin said. “I think that when you get that going in the first period or the first couple shifts, it can get you into the game a little bit. It’s like, ‘Well, you’re in the game now,’ after you hit someone or get in someone’s face. Early in my career, it wasn’t that I would fall asleep, but if I wasn’t getting the puck as much and not making any plays, I realized I needed to find a way to get into the game so if the puck does come in the second or third period, you feel more ready for it.”

Footnotes: Lehkonen skated briefly before Colorado’s optional practice Friday. He hasn’t played since crashing into the boards and injuring his neck Nov. 9 against Seattle. Bednar said earlier this week there was still no timeline on his return.

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The Colorado Avalanche was working on the power play, and Nathan MacKinnon was frustrated. MacKinnon, whose reputation as one of the most intense players in the sport is well-earned, yelled in frustration. It wasn’t clear whether he was yelling at Artturi Lehkonen or just expressing his displeasure in general.

Ryan Johansen, one of several new additions to the club and someone who’s been a veteran leader for years in the NHL, quietly skated over to Lehkonen and gave him a stick tap on the shin pad. A little later, a calmer MacKinnon and Lehkonen had a quick chat, the latter demonstrating an idea with his stick and both players nodding in agreement.

The standard in the Colorado locker room is crystal clear for the 2023-24 season: win the Stanley Cup. This team has the star power, depth and institutional knowledge of how to reach the NHL’s mountaintop.

What this team does not have is its captain — in the locker room, on the plane or on the ice. Gabriel Landeskog is the Avs’ heart-and-soul leader, but he will not play this regular season and may not be available during the playoffs while he recovers from a knee injury that took last year from him as well.

This group of Avalanche players must find leadership, preferably organically, from other sources.

“We’ve been missing him for a year and a half, two years now. It is obviously not ideal, but it has helped a lot of guys in this room grow and find their voice and work toward being a leader and a voice for the team,” Avs defenseman Devon Toews said. “It’s a really open room. It’s like our own little community in here, so nobody’s voice goes unheard. It’s helped some guys come out of their shell.

“… At the same time, you’re missing your true leader, your captain, the guy that pushes everybody forward. It’s hard to pull the room (in one direction) sometimes with a group when you don’t have your one single leader. We’re making it work, but we do miss him.”

In some ways, this team is a fascinating social experiment. Landeskog was the youngest captain in NHL history when the Avs gave him the “C” back in September 2012.

While the organization built a Stanley Cup-winning roster around him, Landeskog was at the forefront of forging a culture that helped MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen develop into superstars and champions. Those three are arguably among the 10 best skaters in the world, and represent the biggest reason why Colorado is a serious threat to win another title.

All three of them, plus several of their teammates, offered the same sentiment about Landeskog: He is irreplaceable.

How does a team with championship aspirations find another way then? It’s certainly a group effort.

“We try to help each other,” Rantanen said. “I think we need other guys to step up who have been here for a few years as well. And you don’t have 1,000 games to lead. I think it’s important that guys feel comfortable. If you have experience, like this guy (Johansen), he is chatty in the room and helping as well. I think we have to do it together because you can’t just replace (Landeskog).”

It starts with Colorado’s big three. MacKinnon, Makar and Rantanen are the club’s three assistant captains. They are the team’s three best players, so teammates are going to look to them regardless of their leadership skills.

They make for an interesting trio. A very surface-level diagnosis is this: MacKinnon is intense, Rantanen easy-going and Makar somewhere in the middle.

That’s not fair to any of them, but particularly MacKinnon and Rantanen. Jack Johnson was quick to note there is a lighter side with MacKinnon, just as no one on the team would question Rantanen’s intensity and will to win when the lights go on.

“The best way to lead is on the ice, whether it is practice or games,” Johansen said. “Those three guys are absolute beasts in every area of this game we play. Those are the guys we look at to lead and that’s what they just naturally do.”

All three of them have said they aren’t the “big speech” guy, which is what most people outside of a hockey locker room think is the most important aspect of being a captain. Makar said he doesn’t speak up often, but hopes his words carry a meaningful weight when he does.

Two of MacKinnon’s teammates described him in the same way. Rantanen said Landeskog is the guy who has been the most outspoken in the past.

This team is experienced enough that it shouldn’t need a saber-rattling lecture very often, but if that time ever arrives someone else would need to handle it.

“I try to be vocal in the room, but not too much,” Rantanen said. “If I have some points that I can point out to maybe the team, that will be good. Then obviously I try to play the right way on the ice. I think that’s the most important thing, to play to our system and work hard every night to lead the way. That’s how I like to do it.

“We know when we’re not playing well. (Coach Jared Bednar) is usually the guy who’s telling us most of that, but we have some accountability in the room too. Nate, myself, (Andrew) Cogliano, other guys can say something when we’re not playing well. It is important that it comes from the room, too, and not just the coaches.”

Fans and media members often put too much onus on the captain of any team, but that’s part of the pressure of wearing the “C.” Anyone from a championship-winning team will be quick to point out that leadership doesn’t just come from the guys who have a letter on their jerseys.

The Avs have three star players in their primes, and they have all earned praise for their work ethic and commitment to playing “the right way” — hallmarks of being a good leader. But the club’s leadership group goes well beyond them.

Cogliano has played more than 1,200 regular-season games, plus 120 more in the playoffs. If there was a wing in the Hockey Hall of Fame for “glue guys,” Cogliano would be a lock.

Johnson has played more than 1,100 regular-season games. He’s played on a team that didn’t have a captain. He’s played on bad teams and great ones. He was a leader and strong playoff performer on a Cup finalist in Nashville. He’s been a seamless addition to the locker room, and his thoughtful gesture ahead of the team’s Moms’ Trip made an immediate impact.

Toews is one of those players whose voice has become more prominent, and he’s another one who does all the right things on and off the ice. Josh Manson was an assistant captain for three seasons in Anaheim.

Ross Colton won the Cup with Tampa Bay, and the energy that players like him, Miles Wood and Logan O’Connor play with can be infectious.

“It’s opportunities and challenges and moments for other guys to step up in Landy’s absence,” Johansen said. “There’s tons of leadership. This is a mature group, an experienced group. I think our room and our vibe and our energy from day to day is awesome.”

One thing that is not going to happen is a player not named Landeskog skating on an NHL rink in an Avalanche sweater with a “C” sewn on. The Avs did not know if their captain would return last season. This year, they know he will not … at least until the playoffs, at the earliest.

“We are still expecting him back, whether it is sooner or later,” Johnson said. “He’ll be back and be in the room. To do that, to kind of shuffle it around, would kind of discredit what it actually is. When teams rotate it around, you don’t want to turn it into employee of the week.”

Bednar was asked about naming a temporary captain before the season began. He quickly shot it down.

A couple of Avs players were asked about the idea recently, and they had the same reaction.

“Somebody has to earn the title of being captain,” Toews said. “It’s a privilege and an honor to do it. I don’t think there’s a single guy in here who would want it with Gabe having it right now. And until he’s done playing and out of the league, he will always be the captain here. I don’t think that would be the right thing to do.

“We run deep, as far as leaders go in this group. We have a lot of guys with experience being leaders in different roles.”

A different team, a younger, less experienced one, might struggle without the guy who has been the emotional fulcrum for as long as Landeskog has been in Colorado. The Avs went through this for the first time last season.

A late-season surge to claim a Central Division title despite injuries to their captain and others became a point of pride and affirmation of the club’s culture. How the season ended, with an upset loss to upstart Seattle after Valeri Nichushkin left the team before Game 3 under murky circumstances, was a reminder of how thin the margins can be at the highest level.

This season has included a few hiccups, but the team’s play since an adverse stretch a month ago is more data to suggest this can be a very successful campaign, even without its captain.

“We have a high standard,” Bednar said. “It’s not always going to come together for you, but I do feel like the messaging from our team and coaching staff has been really consistent. (The players) take a lot of ownership in that. We give them a big voice in there, in meetings and even game-planning if they see things. We’re trying to be a family and we feel like the bigger voice that the players have, the more they will take ownership of it.”

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It would really hurt to waste a hockey club blessed with the generational talent of Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.

Here we are, far enough into the NHL season for anybody in this dusty old cowtown not unhealthily obsessed with the mediocre Broncos to see the Avs have as good a shot as any team in the league to win a championship this season.

Except for one troublesome thing, and it’s the same old irksome thing: Colorado still hasn’t found a solid way to replace center Nazem Kadri from the fire trucks that rode through Denver during that glorious victory parade in 2022.

There’s a nagging hole in this team’s championship dream at 2C.

Can the Avs solve this problem without making a trade? Nothing in a 4-2 loss to Winnipeg gave me much reason for optimism.

When the Avs took the ice on Thursday night, their second-line center was … Ross Colton?

Don’t get me wrong. Colton is a bundle of hustle and heart, good on the forecheck and in the room. But isn’t that pretty much the definition of a third-line center on a legit championship contender?

Not to suggest Avalanche coach Jared Bednar has lost confidence in Ryan Johansen, a righteous dude who Colorado got for 50 cents on the dollar in an offseason trade with Nashville. But I don’t think it was just my imagination running wild to think Bednar got a little testy when recently asked to explain why Colton has surpassed Johansen in ice time.

“I don’t have to (justify it). There’s nothing saying that Ryan Johansen needs more ice time than Ross Colton,” Bednar said. “If Ross Colton’s played well and doing the job that he’s doing, then he’s earning more ice.”

Bednar has done an admirable job guiding Colorado to the top of the Central Division in another year when the hockey gods have not exactly been kind to a team winning at a remarkable rate despite the absence of captain Gabe Landeskog, winger  Artturi Lehkonen and defenseman Sam Girard.

But does Bednar have enough firepower at his disposal to compete with Las Vegas and Dallas when the playoffs roll around, if Colorado must depend on defenseman Makar to be the team’s de facto 2C behind MacKinnon?

Super Joe Sakic is the best thing to ever happen to hockey in Colorado, but now that he’s taken a step into the shadows, we still don’t know if general manager Chris MacFarland has what it takes to re-invent a championship roster.

Well, good Boy Scout that I am, let me offer a helping hand:

Go make a freakin’ deal!

Yes, there’s the very sticky issue of the Avalanche being stuck against the NHL salary cap with little room to breathe, much less wiggle.

But the genius of creative thinking and the guts to make hard choices were the trademarks of the late, great Pierre Lacroix, who stubbornly believed any year the Avs didn’t win the Cup was a failure.

MacFarland has the contacts around the league, so I’ll leave the grunt work to him. I’m just the idea guy, work-shopping the problem.

If I dare to dream big, let’s find the money and convince Minnesota it needs to rebuild and won’t regret trading 26-year-old Joel Eriksson, who has scored a dozen goals already this season, to a division rival. If that’s too much to ask, could Columbus be persuaded to part with 30-year-old Boone Jenner, who scored 26 goals last season in 68 games? Or is Jenner not a big enough upgrade on the talent Bednar can now send over the boards from the Avalanche bench?

As spectacular as Makar, MacKinnon and Rantanen can be, this core hasn’t achieved as much as Las Vegas. Dallas has a strong and younger core than Colorado.

With no clear-cut favorite to win this season’s championship, the Avs need to do whatever’s necessary right now to get their mitts back on the Cup.

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Winnipeg took advantage of a couple of key mistakes and Connor Hellebuyck helped the Jets hang on Thursday night at Ball Arena for a 4-2 win, as the Avs lost for the fourth time in five games (1-2-2) for the first time this season.

Mistakes just before and after the first intermission by top players, combined with a suddenly sputtering power play, were the biggest culprits against the Jets. This stretch doesn’t look as bad as the funk earlier in the year when Colorado lost five of seven with a couple of embarrassing blowouts, but it’s also not near the Avs’ peak performances, either.

“I still think we need some stars to be better than they were tonight,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “I’m just really happy that Nate is going. That’s two games in a row. Tonight, I thought he was outstanding. So, we have to get more guys going in the same direction.”

Colorado had four chances on the power play in this game, including a 5-on-3 in the third period, but was unable to convert. The Avs did have a stretch of nine straight contests with a power-play goal, but this is now four straight without one.

They’re 0 for 12 with the man advantage in that span.

“I felt like we were moving it OK on the power play, but a lot of it is on me,” Cale Makar said. “I wasn’t getting shots through and I wasn’t executing passes, so I take a lot of blame for that.”

Winnipeg grabbed the lead with 2.2 seconds left in the opening period after an unforced error. Avs defenseman Devon Toews tried to get the puck to MacKinnon along the left wall in the Colorado zone, but Axel Jonsson-Fjallby picked off the pass and fed Adam Lowry for a wide-open look from the slot.

The Jets extended their lead to 2-0 when Kyle Connor scored just 32 seconds into the second, making it goals on back-to-back Winnipeg shots on both sides of the intermission. Makar’s clearing attempt didn’t get out of the zone and then he fell, which ultimately gave Connor just enough space to get a shot off.

MacKinnon blew by a pair of Winnipeg defenders and beat Hellebuyck with a backhanded attempt to get the Avs on the board at 2:30 of the second period. It was MacKinnon’s 10th goal of the season, and rookie defenseman Sam Malinski collected his first NHL point on the play.

Joel Kiviranta scored with 31 seconds left in the second to get Colorado back within one at 3-2 after another excellent individual effort from MacKinnon. He carried the puck into the offensive zone, absorbed a hip check at full speed, regained control of the puck and sent a no-look pass to Kiviranta in front.

The Avs players thought Kiviranta’s shot went in immediately, but it was only confirmed after a whistle and review. It was the seventh straight Colorado goal that MacKinnon has either scored or assisted on, dating back to the first period in Anaheim last week.

MacKinnon now has a point in 10 straight contests. He did get off to a bit of a slow start this season, at least by his standards, with nine points in the first 10 games. But MacKinnon is now scoring at a 140-point pace since (27 in 16 games), and has only had one night without a point in that span.

“It’s fun to watch. He was buzzing,” Makar said. “You want to help out, but I wasn’t one of the guys who helped tonight.”

Malinski got in the way on Winnipeg’s third goal. He was trying to box out a Jets player at the edge of the crease, but he ended up providing a screen for a Josh Morrissey shot from the left point. Alexandar Georgiev gave Malinski a whack on the leg with his goalie stick immediately after the puck went in the net.

Bednar acknowledged it was something that would be addressed.

“Yeah, that’s my bad,” Georgiev said. “I was frustrated. I think it was my guy, kind of jumped in front of me. I shouldn’t be frustrated, take the game as it goes and not worry about that.”

Footnotes: Valeri Nichushkin missed a second consecutive game because of an illness. Makar (lower body) and Andrew Cogliano (lower body) both returned to the lineup.

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Cale Makar and Andrew Cogliano were on the ice Wednesday for an optional practice at Ball Arena. Coach Jared Bednar said both could possibly return to the lineup Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets.

Makar has missed the past two games, while Cogliano missed the 3-2 win Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks. Both are dealing with lower-body injuries. There was more good news with defenseman Bowen Byram.

“(Byram) caught a workout this morning and did some treatment,” Bednar said. “So hopefully he’s good for tomorrow.

Byram missed the third period against the Ducks with an upper-body injury. Bednar said after the game it wasn’t head related, which was a good sign given Byram’s history and a head-to-head collision that knocked him to the ice in the second period with Anaheim’s Max Jones.

Nathan MacKinnon was smarting near the end of the game after he blocked a shot, but Bednar said he’s fine. Valeri Nichushkin also missed Tuesday because of an illness. He was not on the ice Wednesday, but could be an option if he feels well enough to play against the Jets.

Artturi Lehkonen (neck) and Samuel Girard (player assistance program) remain out indefinitely. Bednar said they’re not close enough with Lehkonen’s recovery to say if he might be back later this month.

The shorthanded lineup against the Ducks came in the middle of the club’s first stretch of five games in eight days this season. Colorado had its first back-to-back of the year this past weekend and doesn’t have an extra day to rest between games again until Dec. 14.

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Alexandar Georgiev was strong early, Nathan MacKinnon dominated and the Avalanche looked more like a dominant two-way club until a late hiccup in a 3-2 victory against the Anaheim Ducks at Ball Arena. The Avs are hurting, and the situation might have gotten worse in this game, but MacKinnon had a three-point night and one of his best efforts of the campaign to help secure the win.

“It was a great win,” MacKinnon said. “I mean, with our roster we’ve got a lot of pretty good players out. I thought we outplayed them five-on-five. … Overall it was a pretty good game.”

Kurtis MacDermid hadn’t played since Nov. 24 in Minnesota, but he scored for the second time in three shifts to open the scoring just 1:40 in. He collected a pass from MacKinnon with his skate, kicked it to his stick and snapped one into the top corner to beat John Gibson. MacDermid scored on his second-to-last shift in the third period two weeks ago against the Wild, which was the game winner.

There were parts of the first period after the goal when Anaheim had the upper hand, but Georgiev was excellent to keep his team in front. The second period looked more like what the Avs expect.

They created plenty of chances to put this contest away, but Gibson — much like he was Saturday night for the final two periods in Anaheim in a 4-3 Ducks win — was tough to beat. MacKinnon finally did it late in the second.

Josh Manson, filling in for an injured Cale Makar on the top pairing, made a great play to keep the puck in the offensive zone during a prolonged possession, knocking it down with his glove along the wall. Gibson stopped Manson’s point shot, but Jonathan Drouin one-touched the rebound to MacKinnon with a perfect cross-crease pass for an easy one and a two-goal lead.

MacKinnon fed his new linemate, Logan O’Connor, in front of the Anaheim net at 6:21 of the third to give Colorado some insurance. It is MacKinnon’s fourth three-point game of the season.

Avs coach Jared Bednar altered the forward lines more than he has in any game this season. O’Connor moved to the top line, bumping Mikko Rantanen down. Ross Colton moved up to the second line to join him, along with Oskar Olausson, who was making his season debut with the Avalanche. Joel Kiviranta moved up the third line, where Ryan Johansen landed for the first time.

“It went good,” MacKinnon said of his new-look line. “With OC, you know what you’re getting. He’s an easy guy to read off of. (Drouin) is the same thing. He’s always trying to find me in open ice to try and get some zone entries. I thought Mikko did a great job, too, obviously playing with a young kid in Oskar and helping him a lot tonight.”

Part of the reason for the shuffle was that both Valeri Nichushkin (illness) and Andrew Cogliano (lower body) were unavailable. They joined a growing list of players who were not in the lineup. Makar was out for the second consecutive game because of a lower-body injury, though he did participate in the morning skate. Artturi Lehkonen (neck) and Samuel Girard (player assistance program) remain out indefinitely.

The list grew again when Bowen Byram didn’t return for the third period. Max Jones knocked Byram down in the middle of the second period with a big hit. O’Connor immediately took exception and went after Jones. There was no penalty on the play, and Bryam did play two more shifts before exiting with what a team official said was an upper-body injury.

Bednar said after the game that Byram’s injury is not a head injury. He also is hopeful that Makar could return as soon as Thursday night against Winnipeg.

It did get hairy for the Avs late. Sam Carrick scored a shorthanded goal with 9:17 left, but things got worse when Fredrik Olofsson tripped Leo Carlsson. MacDermid went after Carlsson after the whistle and collected a second infraction, so the Ducks had a 5-on-3 for a full two minutes.

They needed exactly half of it before Carlsson scored on a one-timer from Troy Terry to make it a one-goal game with 5:49 remaining. The Avs were able to kill off the rest and avoid what would have been a stunning collapse.

“Today was just getting a win,” Drouin said. “The line combinations and ‘D’ combinations were all in the blender. I thought we kept it simple for 40 minutes. Maybe we got away from that on the one power play and gave them a little sniff to get back in the game. But for close to 60 minutes, I thought we played well.”

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