Mistakes, sputtering power play cost Avalanche in loss against Jets
Nathan Mackinnon is producing like one of the best players in the league, but it hasn’t been enough to prevent the Colorado Avalanche from hitting another lull before the holiday break.
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, 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.
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.
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.
Mackinnon blew by a pair of Winnipeg defenders and beat Hellebuyck with a backhanded attempt to get the
“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, workshopping 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.