The Colorado Avalanche has done a lot of winning in the first leg of the 2023-24 NHL season, but it’s also managed to stack several potentially demoralizing losses.
Arizona scored in overtime Thursday night to give the Avs (15-6-1) their first post-regulation defeat, but the context of the goal was particularly stunning. Colorado had to kill off a 4-on-3 power play in the extra session, and did so with some heroic work from the penalty killers and goaltender Alexandar Georgiev.
But, just seconds after the penalty expired and before the Avs could really settle into 4-on-4 play, the puck squirted off Cale Makar’s stick and through Georgiev’s legs with some help from Coyotes forward Nick Bjugstad.
Makar called it unfortunate and unlucky.
“I didn’t think we played our best tonight, but to be able to come back in the third and after giving up some goals that we didn’t like, squared it and go into overtime — I mean, you take a penalty in overtime, it’s usually not a good thing,” Bednar said. “We almost survived it. We would have loved to have two points out of it, but we’ll take the one, learn from it and move on.”
It was technically the third time the Avs have lost in the final minute of the game. Colorado also allowed a game-winning goal with 32 seconds left against Seattle and two goals in the final 37 seconds in a come-from-ahead loss in Nashville.
The Avalanche followed the Seattle loss with an embarrassing 8-2 defeat at home against St. Louis. That spurred a stark improvement, and Colorado is now 7-1-1 since. The one regulation loss was at Nashville, a defeat that could easily rattle a team.
Not this one. Not at that point. The Avs shook off one bad minute in an otherwise solid game and ripped off four more wins in a row.
“We didn’t even talk about it,” Nathan MacKinnon said of the loss to the Predators earlier this week. “I think when bad teams stay bad it’s because they dwell on things.”
The Blues game was another potential tipping point for this team. Colorado began the season with six straight wins, but the stretch that followed was pretty miserable.
First, it was three shutout losses in a four-game span. Then, after a win against a shorthanded New Jersey team, the Avs lost back-to-back games against the Kraken and Blues.
At that point, they were 8-5-0, and the good vibes from the hot start were largely gone. Four losses by four-plus goals, plus a stunner in the final minute, is certainly a rough patch. Toss in a scary injury to Artturi Lehkonen. It all led to a terrible third period against the Blues, one that Bednar uncharacteristically teed off on in his postgame media session.
The coach could have put his troops through a grueling practice the next day reminiscent of the one depicted in the movie “Miracle” that has become an oft-used meme. Bednar even said that he kind of wanted to. But, after he and the team convened at Ball Arena, Bednar decided an optional practice was the right move.
“We had a big meeting, obviously, but no big skate, no negativity,” MacKinnon said about the Blues postmortem. “(Bednar) didn’t even bring up the (Nashville) game. We had a day off. Then we played Vancouver and beat them, and we’ve been playing really well.
“I’m sure if we didn’t have a day off, he’d have brought it up. But I think sometimes it’s better to just throw some games away. It’s easy to break it down with all the video and technology, but sometimes it’s just good to throw it away and get ready for another one.”
So, the Avs will try to shake off another stunning loss. This time, potential retribution will come with back-to-back games in Southern California against the slumping Ducks and surging Kings.
The Avs had another optional practice Friday in Irvine. Part of that is because teams rarely practice hard in the middle of a three-games-in-four-nights stretch. But it’s also because there’s a level of trust between the coach and a veteran roster with the highest expectations possible.
“I don’t think it’s just because of my internal process. I think it’s the confidence I have in our team,” Bednar said. “The trust I have, and our history together — I know how competitive they are and how hard they work and how much they put into our process to have success.
“When you go through some rough times after having success, you’re pretty confident that your team can turn it around and they’re not going to dwell on it or having it go the wrong way.”
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