Colorado Avalanche Must Halt the Losing Skid in Winnipeg
The Colorado Avalanche start their two-game Canadian road trip with a visit to the Central Division rival Winnipeg Jets. They must take this game.
The Colorado Avalanche have just experienced a four-game losing streak and have dropped five of their last six contests. They must halt that skid, hopefully tonight in Winnipeg.
That task will not be easy. The Jets are a good team. A very good team. Last season, they fought their way to the Conference Finals where they finally fell to the Vegas Golden Knights being backstopped by a red-hot Marc-Andre Fleury.
They’re not exactly slouches this season either. They’re off to a 8-5-1 start.
Since the Jets relocated from Atlanta, the all-time series has been tight between the two teams. Colorado has beaten them by a small margin — 12-11-3. Last season, the two teams split their four-game series, with the Avalanche winning the first two, both at home, and the Jets winning the other two, both in Winnipeg.
As noted above, the Colorado Avalanche are coming off a four-game losing skid, though one loss was in overtime, so they got a point. Tonight’s game is the first since the Jets returned from their Global Series in Finland (which they split with the Panthers). They haven’t played in six days, which the Avs can definitely relate to after two four-day gameless periods.
How to Enjoy the Game
Game time: November 9, 6:00 pm MT
TV Networks: Alt 2, TSN3 (Jets feed)
Radio: Altitude Radio (FM 92.5)
Tighten up the Defense
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I’ve been pretty wound up recently that Erik Johnson got demoted from the first pairing (with Samuel Girard) to the second (with Patrik Nemeth!). That doesn’t seem fitting for the Avalanche’s number-one defenseman.
You know what, I don’t care. Just tighten up the blueline. Because recently the Avs have been allowing way too many shots on goal and have been overall loosey-goosey with their defense.
I would like to see Tyson Barrie score, though. It’s 15 games into the season. While it’s true Barrie has 11 assists, I sure would like to see a goal from our prime offensive defenseman.
First Line Dominance
Through the month of October, the MGM line (Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanan, Gabriel Landeskog) created so much buzz, even the NHL had to start noticing.
They’ve fallen flat in November. Nine days into the month, and the Avs have yet to win a game. Granted, thanks to the funky schedule they’ve only played three games, but it’s still disturbing.
And the first line hasn’t been as dominating as you might hope.
Rantanen does have three assists, from the Vancouver Canucks loss. MacKinnon has four points, three from the Canucks loss and one from the Predators loss. Landeskog has two points, one each from the Calgary and Vancouver losses.
I guess it’s not that the top line isn’t scoring. It’s not even that the secondary scoring is non-existent. It just hasn’t mattered.
Bounce-Back Game
Ultimately, it all comes down to the Colorado Avalanche needing a big old bounce-back game. They’ve needed that game since the loss against the Wild in Minnesota.
They definitely need it after the home loss against the Central Division rival Nashville Predators at home. Well, they’re facing another Central Division rival, and this time it’s not from the cushy ice at home.
Jost Shows off Skills in Practice. dark. Next
This is a year that see the Colorado Avalanche face the Winnipeg Jets five times. They won’t see their Central Division rivals again until January 8, but they still can’t afford to drop too many of these four-point games if they want to make the playoffs.
After tonight, the Avalanche will head to Edmonton to face the Oilers, a Western Conference if not Central Division game. Then, they get to come back to Pepsi Center for a couple games before heading on a West Coast road trip leading to their next two back-to-back series.