Avs need to shake off rust on the road, and in a hurry
Feb 4, 2020, 7:14 AM
After an 11-day break for the NHL All-Star Game — which felt more like a month — the Colorado Avalanche returned to the ice Saturday in Philadelphia only to get thumped 6-3 by the Flyers.
But, no worries, right? It’s just one game, after a long vacation.
“(Nathan MacKinnon) was just saying you got to get back to the lab, and that is something we’ve got to do the last few days here and try to get that rust off,” said Avs forward Matt Calvert on Monday. “We are excited for the next opportunity, and we need to get back in a winning trend here.”
Indeed, panic is not advised just yet. But just one game into the longest road trip this side of the all-star break, Colorado needs to shake off that residual rust before losing more ground in the battle for postseason position.
To do that, the Avalanche need to work on special teams, an area that plagued them in the first half of the season and, again, against Philadelphia. Flyers forward Kevin Hayes — by himself, practically — exposed the Avs on Saturday, scoring not only a power-play but also a short-handed goal in the win.
Head coach Jared Bednar told 104.3 The Fan Avalanche Insider Adrian Dater that his squad has been “doing a lot of work on special teams, a lot of meetings and talks.”
“We’re getting real good interactions with our guys, and I feel like our penalty kill has done a much better job of late, as it did tonight,” Bednar said. “I liked the pace and the tenacity of the penalty kill tonight.”
Among the league, however, Colorado still sits near the bottom in terms of penalty-kill percentage, coming in 21st at 79.1 percent. On the flip side, the Avalanche are 22nd in converting power-play opportunities at just 18.9 percent.
The Avs, however, have a couple of opportunities to get right on the road, starting Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres and then Thursday against the Ottawa Senators, as both teams are lingering toward the bottom of the Atlantic Division.
