10 Observations: Avalanche fall to Utah in Snoozer At Ball Arena (+)

DENVER — The Avalanche lost at home again. This one was always going to be tough given the off day between a lengthy road trip and the first game back at home. It wasn’t the most entertaining type of hockey but thankfully for Jared Bednar’s club, it wasn’t a game filled with bad goals against or terrible habits from the defense.

The Avs lost 4-1 to Utah Hockey Club at Ball Arena.

10 Observations

1. Four wins out of five on the road is pretty darn good. But a 7-8-0 record at home? Not good.

1. This game felt like a snoozer right from the onset. Even the energy in the arena wasn’t all there, albeit the Avs didn’t give the fans much to be excited about. But coming off a lengthy road trip and three straight wins, I expected more. In the end, it’s one game and the Avalanche have a big opportunity to bounce back Saturday against Justus Annunen and the Nashville Predators. Given the fact that it’s a Saturday night, I’m sure the energy and performance will both be there.

2. Love what Givani Smith was trying to do in the second period but hate the way he went about it. The rugged forward was simply trying to make an impression in his first Avs home game since the trade.

In a shift that ended with Utah’s Karel Vejmelka covering the puck, Smith poked at the puck twice while it was under the goalie’s glove and then came to the front of the crease and started going at Michael Kesselring. Smith was handed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and Utah scored nine seconds later to make it 3-0. That tally felt like the backbreaker and the one that put this game out of reach.

3. Scott Wedgewood probably had his worst showing since joining the Avs, granted it wasn’t all that bad. He’s been great in basically every other game. The goalie made 19 saves but let in a couple of goals the team probably would want back. The first one was a tough bounce off teammate Artturi Lehkonen and the second deflected in off Calvin de Haan.

Love the goalie’s attitude, though. When he was asked about those goals postgame he basically said, all you could do is laugh. Tough break for the Avs but a positive mindset from their new goalie.

4. Speaking of Wedgewood, I chatted with him off the record a little bit after his media availability. He’s genuinely a funny guy and someone with an infectious personality. I wrote this in the game story last night but I’m really starting to see why the Avs keep referencing his character.

5. Props to Vejmelka. Even when it was 3-0 late in the third period, he was still on his game and made a massive breakaway save on Artturi Lehkonen. I’ve said this every time I’ve gotten to watch him since the Arizona days, but Utah’s got a good one in Vejmelka. I really like him and wonder how he’d do on a playoff team.

6. The net mouth scramble late in the second, to me, felt like the moment where you knew the Avalanche just didn’t have it tonight. My goodness, I’m not sure how neither Casey Mittelstadt nor Lehkonen were able to shovel that puck past the goal line.

7. He obviously didn’t play, but my first impression of Mackenzie Blackwood is: He’s built like a tank. His forearms might be bigger than most goalie’s biceps. No wonder he looks so big when he’s in the butterfly.

8. I heard from a former teammate that Blackwood can squat 400 pounds. Truly, I’ve never seen a goalie built like this.

9. I’m not saying I don’t like Ross Colton on the wing, but the bottom six isn’t doing much on the offensive side of things without him there. I bet this is something the team addresses before the trade deadline — even with a healthy Jonathan Drouin.

10. Utah should be better than they are. They’ve got way too much talent to only have 13 wins in the first 29 games.