10 Takeaways: Bednar is Concerned and Frustrated With Struggling Avalanche Power Play (+)

The Avalanche’s 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Monday was their eighth straight win. They also extended their home winning streak to 14 games and have more wins at Ball Arena (16) than nine other teams have overall.

But most of their damage, per usual, continues to come at 5-on-5. They’re breaking records at even strength, which, obviously, is how most games are played.

But something has to give with the Avalanche’s struggling power play. Against the Kings, special teams almost sank them. Their play at 5-on-5 was the lifeline they needed to keep their streaks going, as it has all season.

Jared Bednar admitted he’s concerned. He’s frustrated.

After all, the talent this team has should lead to a power play that rivals that of the Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars.

Instead, those teams are ranked first and second, respectively, while Colorado is further down the list in 26th. It’s borderline embarrassing.

On what Bednar said, how the Avs can fix the power play, and more from their performance on Monday.

(If you’re not a subscriber to CHN+ content, use promo code Deen10 for 25% off an annual subscription).

READ MORE: Postgame Wrap: Avalanche Defeat L.A. Kings Despite Power Play Struggles

10 Takeaways

1. I opened Bednar’s presser with a question about the power play. I asked if there’s heightened concern with the inability to really find that consistent play on the man advantage.

“Yes,” Bednar said. And then he paused, almost as if he wanted to collect his frustrations on how to break it down. “Yeah. I mean, it’s because it’s been too long without us figuring it out, right? So there’s concern, for sure. I still have lots of belief in it, though.”

Bednar was later asked a follow up on what he thinks is or isn’t working. He credited the second pair with having a few good looks during their time on the ice. But then concluded his response with this:

“I didn’t think the top unit was in sync. I thought we had some guys on that unit that didn’t have a great night when it came to their offensive touch, and struggled for us today,” he said. “Then I think the frustration, you know, kind of built up, and they got worse.”

They’re all feeling it. All of the top guys. They have to be.

When you go that long without a consistent power play, you start to overthink and try to do too much. The mental battle of this entire thing is the biggest hurdle they have to clear. They have the talent to score, they just need to find a way to rebuild that confidence and figure out a way to move the puck efficiently and find those looks.

2. Courtesy of my colleague at the Denver Post, Corey Masisak, here’s a breakdown of how the Avalanche are winning these most recent games.

The #Avs have scored two power play goals and allowed two shorthanded goals in the past five games.

They are +1 on the power play (3-2) during this winning streak, -4 on the PK (0-4) and +19 at even strength (30-11).

— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22) December 30, 2025

It’s not normal for a team to win eight straight and score only three times on the PP. It’s even more remarkable to do that, while also giving up two shorthanded goals. When you add in the penalty kill, Colorado is -3 on special teams but a whopping +19 at even strength.

Again, those 5-on-5 numbers are incredible. But special teams need to be better. Specifically, the power play. We’re already three games away from the halfway mark. It’s not early in the season anymore.

3. I wanted to catch Martin Necas after the game to talk more about his recent goal-scoring surge, as well as the struggling power play. Unfortunately, he wasn’t made available. The only member of the PP that spoke was Brock Nelson. He’s been back on the top unit after a brief stint on the second unit earlier in the season.

Nelson credited the Kings for a strong penalty kill performance more than he was critical of the Avs’ struggles.

“They pressure hard. We had a little bit of zone time there, have a turnover in the last one and kind of kills it,” Nelson said. “Just trying to find a little bit more support.”

4. The Avs are 16-0-2 in Denver with the league’s 22nd best home power play. On the road, Colorado is even lower, running the 28th ranked PP.

Their play at home is almost the complete opposite of the power play. As in, they’ve built so much confidence in how they play at Ball Arena that it almost feels automatic. That’s what a 16-0-2 record, with both losses coming in a shootout, can do for your confidence.

It’s quite literally the opposite of the lack of confidence they have in how they operate on the man advantage. That’s where they need to get to before April.

Here’s what Bednar had to say about their play at home. I enjoyed this response from the head coach.

“I think the goal for your team, in any season, is that you feel like you can win every night. That’s what you want. You want to have that belief. You have to have that belief, or you won’t. You won’t win, and you won’t win as much as you think you should, right?” Bednar said. “So there’s a confidence to it, but I think that confidence, like any other confidence, is earned. You put in the hard work, your details are good, you’re competitive enough, you believe in the structure of your game and what your teammates and linemates can do, and then you feel good about it, and it’s contagious.

“The work kind of snowballs, just like anything else, right? So I think they’ve done a nice job with their focus, focusing on the right things, and it’s kind of snowballing for us. So we go into every game expecting to win, and that’s what you want them to feel.”

5. The empty-net goal from Nathan MacKinnon was his 32nd of the season, which matches the total goals he had all of last season. And he’s reached that number in just 38 games. It’s tremendous, really.

Only seven of his goals have come on the power play. It seems like a low number, but it’s already almost as much as the nine he had last year. Somehow, MacKinnon has never scored more than 12 power-play goals in any one season.

Mikko Rantanen had more than 12 in four of his nine seasons in Colorado. They need to find a way to either get more guys going to make up for that, or bring in a new specialist on the man advantage. Necas has three PP goals after scoring 12 in 79 games last year.

Valeri Nichushkin was a power play demon in 2023-24. Before he took a personal leave in January, he was the top PP goal scorer in the league. He finished that season with 16 PP goals in 54 games. Is he the answer? If so, where do you slot him to rekindle that magic?

6. Another game, another point for Samuel Girard. His assist on the Nelson goal is his ninth in eight games dating back to Dec. 11 against the Florida Panthers.

Girard’s run of offense also happens to align with Colorado’s eight-game wining streak. The 27-year-old defenseman is also riding a four-game point streak.

7. Eight wins in a row is the second-longest streak the Avs have had this year after the 10 games in a row they had earlier. It’s also the second-longest active streak behind, to everybody’s surprise, the Buffalo Sabres, who have won nine in a row.

8. Necas’ offensive trends this season have been fascinating to track. His tally in the second period was his fifth goal in five games. He doesn’t have an assist in that stretch.

Before that, Necas had just one goal and a whopping 19 assists during a 14-game stretch.

9. This is the last Avalanche game before Olympic rosters are due. For Team Canada’s case, they’ll be revealing their roster on Wednesday ahead of the Avs’ morning skate against the St. Louis Blues.

Mackenzie Blackwood, ahead of the roster deadline, is 12-1-1 with a .924 save percentage and two shutouts. Scott Wedgewood is 17-1-4 with a .919 save percentage and two shutouts.

You have to imagine they’re both going to be waiting by their phones for some sort of information about their positioning within Hockey Canada. I can’t imagine both will make it, but maybe one can crack the roster.

10. The Avs wearing white jerseys at home was a nice change. The NHL has urged teams to mix and match jerseys this year and even have some color on color games if its easy to distinguish between the two. In this case, the Kings’ third jerseys, which they revealed opening night against the Avs, are a black sweater that obviously works better against whites.

I don’t think the league should do away entirely with home and road colors like the NBA basically has, but I do like seeing some changes like this from time to time.