Colorado Avalanche Need to Find their Defensive Play

The Colorado Avalanche need to renew their commitment to playing defense so they can get back to winning important hockey games. Which they all are.

The Colorado Avalanche lost against the Vegas Golden Knights last night, and I’m angry. They’re whittling away chances to play merciless hockey, and instead they’re acting like British gentlemen in the dueling era, afraid to make an enemy.

If the Avalanche lose Saturday night against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday, I’m not going to be mad. I’m switching to the resigned disgust of 2012-13 and 2016-17. I don’t see the reason to waste passion on a team that’s not playing with passion.

Now, though, I’m still mad and I want to find ways for this team to right the ship. For right now, that focus in on defense.

The Avalanche haven’t had much of it recently. I’m not going to bother with fancy stats because you know that’s not my forte (though I’ve gotten better, n’est-ce pas?). However, it doesn’t take a Corsi to see the Avs have gone loose on defense.

The Colorado Avalanche have allowed 235 shots in the last seven games. Two hundred. And. Thirty-Five shots. That’s just over 33 shots per game. Basically par for the course for Colorado, but it seems like so many.

The Vegas Golden Knights are known for a lot of things, including employing a garbage goon. One of the things they’re known for is truly playing a 200-foot game. They don’t give up in any zone.

Colorado has been too casual in its own zone recently, and that’s resulted in turnovers. Lots and lots of turnovers. And it’s not just one player or even one caliber of player. The Avalanche just can’t hold onto the puck.

It’s time to get back to basics. Specifically, it’s time to get back to defensive basics. What was once an Achilles heel for the Avalanche became a strength for them at the beginning of the year. That strength has flip-flopped again, and they’re Swiss cheese on the blueline.

Their own blueline, the opponent blueline, and also the red line at center ice. They keep focusing on jumping into the zone that they ignore the prevention of the opponent from going on the attack.

Like I said, the situation was exacerbated in Vegas. Not only because the Knights will pounce on these chances, but also because the Vegas players will show you how good a team can look when they all commit to defense.

More from Mile High Sticking

To be clear, I’m not talking solely about the Avs’ defensemen right now. Having the letter D next to your name on a roster doesn’t mean you’re the only one tagged with playing defense. Especially when you’re on a team that expects its defensemen to jump into the play.

All players wearing the Avs logo but no goalie mask need to commit to defensive play to help the one player who is wearing the Avs logo plus a goalie mask. When you let a goalie get shelled with 43 shots in a game, he can throw a .953 save percentage and you still lose (as happened last night in Vegas).

No, the Colorado Avalanche need to not only limit the amount of shots, they need to cut back on opponents’ scoring chances. If they can’t prevent the shot, they should at least make it a low-quality shot.

And, like I said, that’s in the purview of anyone in burgundy and blue. If the forward corps isn’t going to score 5+ goals a game (which they aren’t), then they need to commit to the cause another way.

What’s frustrating to me is the Avs got themselves into a good position at the beginning of the season. And a large part of their success stemmed from playing defensive hockey when needed. Their game play was tight early on.

Now, it’s loose. Very loose.

The Colorado Avalanche are still in a good playoff position because suddenly the impossible Central Division went soft. That’s not going to last forever, though.

Time for all the Avs players to commit to defense.