Colorado Avalanche are Road Warriors
After a four-game losing skid, the Colorado Avalanche won their first game of a three-game road trip. The Avalanche play like a team of road warriors.
“Hopefully we’ll take advantage of some road cooking.” ~Erik Johnson
The Colorado Avalanche are a better team on the road than at home. After the 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators, Colorado is 16-12-0 on the road but only 12-13-4. This runs counter to general wisdom, which states a team typically plays better at home.
One of the reasons that a team plays better at home is the home coach has the last line change. This mean he gets the match ups that he wants. However, in an interview with 104.3 The Fan, head coach Patrick Roy talked about how focusing on match ups could actually be detrimental to the team.
In that same interview, coach Roy talked about the players’ desire to do well in front of the home fans. He mentioned that the players wanted to put on a good show, but that winning needed to be the focus since that provided the best show of all.
Well, prior to the Colorado Avalanche’s recent four-game home stand, the team had been doing better on home ice. They had a 12-10-3 record, which is a little over .500. However, they went 0-3-1 during the post-All Star Break home stand.
After a 3-1 loss against the Vancouver Canucks, Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog expressed excitement about the team’s going on the road. During the post-game presser, he added:
"“We’re excited to be playing on the road. We’ve been playing well. For some reason we’ve found success there.”"
Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson had a reason for that during a post-practice presser:
"“We’re together more [on the road]. You have a lot of dinners together. At home you just see each other at the rink then go home and do your thing. On the road you’re together a little bit more, bond a little bit more, have a little bit more fun together. Sometimes that can be the recipe for success.”"
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As we saw against the Ottawa Senators, that was a recipe for success. In fact. the Colorado Avalanche also faced adversity better. By the middle of the game, they had a commanding 3-0 lead that the Senators whittled away to 3-2 in under eight minutes. In the past that would usher in an Avalanche freak-out. Instead the team held their own against the onslaught the Senators brought on in the third period.
During a post-game presser, coach Roy stated that he thought the win was a result of having “a little more focus.”
A funny little note that maybe shows how the Colorado Avalanche really does seem to be a team of road warriors this season. After the loss against the Vancouver Canucks, defenseman Francois Beauchemin was asked what the turning point of the game had been considering Colorado had taken a lead early. Without hesitation he answered, “The power play.” The Avalanche failed to capitalize on a single opportunity in that game, including two brief 5-on-3 opportunities.
By comparison, the Colorado Avalanche got three of their four goals against the Ottawa Senators on the power play.
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In the end, maybe Erik Johnson said it best. During his post-practice presser he remarked that the Colorado Avalanche was looking forward to taking advantage of some “road cooking.”
Against the Senators at least the Colorado Avalanche did, indeed, enjoy some road cooking. Let’s hope they repeat the meals against the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres.