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Good & Bad: Avalanche Lack Energy in Bad 5-2 Loss to Chicago

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DENVER — For the second consecutive game, the Avalanche didn’t look good at all. But unlike the previous night, the Avs were unable to come away with a victory on Monday.



Colorado fell 5-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks at Ball Arena, ending the winning streak at five games and falling to 5-5-0 on the season. For most of the night, the Avs look like a team on the second part of a back-to-back. They struggled early and were outplayed for most of the nights by a weaker struggling Blackhawks team. And even when they started to take control in the third period, the opportunities weren’t quite there. The Blackhawks did an excellent job of getting in front of pucks and keeping the Avs from really building momentum.

“We were no good again. We weren’t as good as last night even,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “We just looked tired. Execution was bad, mentally, not sharp, you know. It happens. We looked like we didn’t have any energy, though, right from the drop of the puck.”

Alexandar Georgiev was back in goal for Colorado and, again, didn’t look sharp to start. Chicago had the first two power plays of the evening, and in the closing seconds of the second opportunity, Philipp Kurashev beat Georgiev with a slap shot from above the circle. It didn’t take long for Colorado to respond thanks to Casey Mittelstadt’s sixth of the year. But less than a minute later, Lukas Reichel restored Chicago’s lead.

Ryan Donato added to the lead just over five minutes later before Nathan MacKinnon beat his defenseman wide on the rush and scored to make it 3-2 while Colorado was on a two-man advantage. Five goals, all within 10 minutes.

But those were the only goals until the third period. And despite Colorado’s effort, the only two goals scored the rest of the way were two empty netters for the Blackhawks in the final minute.

“We’re not looking at moral victories here right now,” Bednar said. “It wasn’t our best game. It needed to be better, and it wasn’t, you know, it’s two in a row.”

Colorado also had another massive loss due to injury. Ross Colton blocked a shot with his foot in the first period and tried to limp his way through the rest of the game. He played hurt in the second period before missing the third. Bednar said after the game that Colton would miss time. The team will have a better idea of how long he’ll be out on Wednesday.

Colton left the arena in a walking boot.

Good: Casey Mittelstadt

We’re only 10 games into the season and I’m already struggling to find new ways to compliment Casey Mittelstadt. The Avs’ second-line center was touted as a playmaker when they acquired him. He even mentioned to us several times during training camp that he’s a pass-first guy, often joking that he doesn’t even like to shoot the puck. Either the lack of scoring wingers has led to more goals for the centerman, or perhaps Mittelstadt had been tricking us all along.

The 25-year-old scored Colorado’s first goal, his sixth of the season, to tie things up at 1-1. Through the first 10 games, Mittelstadt has 13 points. And against Chicago, he led the Avalanche with five shots on goal. What’s more impressive is the ways he’s beating goalies. I’m not sure how his career played out in Buffalo but his shot is better than I thought. Kudos to him for the strong start. Truly, Colorado has found its No. 2 center. No question.

Bad: Mikko Rantanen

Speaking of goal scorers, Mikko Rantanen was invisible on Monday. Colorado’s top winger is playing with added pressure right now given the fact that he’s basically the one remaining top-six forward available and because he’s also still without a contract extension. Rantanen looked like he was going to play through all the noise when he had a hat trick on opening night. But in recent games, the opportunities just aren’t there. He’s got just one goal in nine games since.

If it’s a shocker to see Mittelstadt lead the team with five shots, it has to be twice as surprising when you realize that Rantanen finished without a shot on goal in more than 25 minutes of ice time. Along with Cale Makar and MacKinnon, Rantanen was one of three Avs to finish the game with a -4 rating. This is the second straight game that Bednar has commented on his top stars’ poor play. I thought Rantanen specifically would respond better after the Ottawa game. But that wasn’t the case.

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Joe Cerwinske

Not a great game, for sure, but I’ll just chalk it up to the Nuggets winning tonight. ๐Ÿ˜‰ Last year, whenever both teams played on the same night, it seemed like one team always lost and the other won. That trend has continued in both of the nights the two teams have both played, and I think tonight the Nuggets just needed the win a little more. In any case, it sucks losing to Chicago, and it sucks potentially losing Colton. However, we as Avalanche fans just need to remind ourselves: it could be worse. We could be Oilers fans,… Read more »

*831*

Yeah at least the Avs can resort to the excuse of missing 3 top six wingers, their captain Landy, Toews for a handful of games, & now Colton. But the Oilers? They’ve been healthy all year up until now with McDavid’s injury (Kane on LTIR, but he’s mostly been a 3rd liner for them), yet the Avs have still scored more goals than them.

idavsfan

Stuck playing from behind because of Fourgiev’s crappy play in net in the 1st. Time to move on from him in net.

Roger Hutton

Georgiev is making it easy for Bednar. Let’s hope Lakhonen? does well with the farm club.

Ken

No mention of the refs? I knew we would see the "lynch" Georgiev posts, but come on folks, why not refs blame? Sure, AG did not look great last night but the Avs should have been down 5-0 instead of 3-2 after 1 period. The loss is not on the Goalie at all. We spent the entire first period in our own zone and looked like an ECHL team playing a playoff team. We did not look like a playoff team playing a team that might go .500 in the AHL. Back to back is a weak excuse, and new… Read more »

ricoflashback

This is one for the dumpster. Forget about analyzing it. You’d be here all day. The biggest loss is Colton. That’s more important. A step (or more like two) behind all night with zero energy. Let’s face it – – Chicago wanted it more and it showed in the corners and their commitment to defense. Maybe we can see Foudy or some other deserving Eagle now? I still don’t know what the Avs see in Wagner. He’s as bland as can be with very little skill.

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