Colorado Avalanche: 5 Keys for the Four-Game Home Stand
The Colorado Avalanche need to collect points during their four-game home stand, the longest of the season so far.
The Colorado Avalanche embark on their longest home stand of the season so far. Going into the Dallas Stars game, they had spent more of their time on the road than at home. They’ve played 20 of 32 games on the road.
Do the math — that means they’ve only played 12 games at home going past the third-season mark. That’s the fewest of any team in the NHL.
Despite that fact, Colorado has a winning record and is still holding on to a third-seed berth in the tough Central Division. That winning record is because of some strong road play, which was an area of weakness for them last season.
Well, the Avalanche have always done best with some home cooking. Teams typically do well in their own barn because of the second change that allows coaches to make the matchups they want. There also tends to be the crowd factor — the team feeds off the home crowd.
In Colorado, you also have the addition of altitude. Granted, when you’re talking about elite athletes such as NHLers, fatigue due to thinner oxygen isn’t as big a factor as with laypeople. However, it could just give the Avs a slight edge.
Whatever the reason, Colorado can put themselves on more solid footing at a crucial point in the season — before the halfway mark, when playoff certainty starts to be clear for some teams. The Avs want to be one of those teams.
Let’s look what the keys to this home stand are.
Start Strong against Dallas
In any game, the Colorado Avalanche’s game plan is to start strong so they’re not chasing the play the rest of the game. Well, that’s how the Avs need to approach this home stand. They start with Dallas, and they want to start strong.
Unfortunately, Colorado’s back-to-back luck has run out. In their previous back-to-back series, the Avs have been facing a team that’s also coming off a back-to-back. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with the Stars.
Dallas played against the Sharks in San Jose on Thursday. That means they flew to Colorado right afterward and had all of Friday to rest and reset. Meanwhile, the Avalanche were in St. Louis — they had to fly home after their game.
So, the key to the Dallas game is to start strong and put the Stars back on their heels. Like Colorado, the Stars are a team who can score a lot of goals. And, like the Avs, they’re a team that can allow a lot of goals. So, let’s get on that.
Skate Opponents into the Ice
In that vein, while altitude isn’t a big advantage among elite athletes, it is at least a slight advantage. Generally, teams try to combat the lack of oxygen factor with short shifts. You can’t get too terribly winded if you’re on the ice for less than a minute.
If opponents extend their shifts a little, though… well, they’ll probably feel it.
One of the ways the Colorado Avalanche can capitalize on this situation is to do what they were built to do — skate like the wind. Nathan MacKinnon, et al., have at least three months’ worth of practice skating daily at this altitude. They won’t get winded because of it.
Because the Avs are such a speedy team anyway, opponents have to scramble to catch them. Well, part of Colorado’s home ice advantage is being able to use that trait to effect. It’s up to the Avalanche to drive the tempo of the game — and the tempo should be a fast one.
Top Line Dominance
So, who can help drive that up-tempo game? Why, the best line in the NHL. Even in the Avalanche’s two-game losing skid, the bright spot was the top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Gabriel Landeskog.
The Colorado Avalanche cannot depend on this line alone. Other teams have access to film of their play. They can spend oodles of time and brainpower constructing ways to slow them down or otherwise dampen their brightness — and I’m sure that’s a large focus when teams hold film review meetings.
However, the top line is so good that they can control the pace and outcome of the game. You watch MacKinnon, and sometimes it seems as if he can score at will. And when Rantanen is holding court behind the net… watch out.
I don’t want to say it’s a case of the Avs go as the top line goes. Colorado has won games in which those three players were contained. However, during a four-game home stand, when the Avalanche coach controls the matchups to some degree… well, we hope that those three players rack up some points en route to some wins.
Goalie Redemption
The Colorado Avalanche have a goalie controversy. It’s a controversy teams such as the Calgary Flames or Arizona Coyotes would like to have. The Avs have two good goalies.
Unfortunately, both goalies have some egg on their faces after some recent play. While GM Joe Sakic has stated that the Avs have two number-one goalies, we know that Semyon Varlamov is the natural starter. The devil you know and all that.
Well, Varlamov is the kind of goalie who can win games the Avalanche have no business winning. He’s also the kind of goalie who can lose games the team should have otherwise won.
As for Philipp Grubauer… more than a third of the season into this year, we’re still not really sure what kind of goalie he is. Is he a true starting goalie? Well, we all hope so — after this season, that’s what he’s supposed to be.
Beat the Chicago Blackhawks
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Not just the Chicago Blackhawks either. The Hawks are the worst team in the NHL. (Or second-worst — they keep flip-flopping with the LA Kings.) Unfortunately, the Colorado Avalanche have a tendency to let these teams keep hanging around instead of going in for the kill. And hanging around, sometimes these bad teams pull out a win.
During the home stand, the Avs finish with Chicago on the first leg of a back-to-back series. After playing Chicago at home, they fly to Arizona to face the Coyotes before a four-day break for Christmas.
Boy do we all want diamonds instead of coal in our stockings. The Hawks are a disaster of a team, and the Coyotes are barely climbing out of the basement. (Side note: doesn’t the ‘Yotes logo look like a dog whose tail just got stepped on? Maybe that’s their problem…) Beating the Hawks would be a nice diamond.
There are two games the Colorado Avalanche simply must win during this home stand — Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks. The Stars are a division rival who are trying to climb into a playoff berth. The Blackhawks are a division rival who suck. The Avs need to collect those important points.
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The Colorado Avalanche home stand looks like this:
- Dec. 15: Dallas Stars
- Dec. 17: New York Islanders
- Dec. 19: Montreal Canadiens
- Dec. 21: Chicago Blackhawks
As I mentioned above, the Avs travel to Arizona after facing the Hawks. After that back-to-back series, the team is off four days for the holidays before traveling again, this time to Vegas.