Colorado Avalanche Can Surprise the NHL with a Win

The Colorado Avalanche could surprise the NHL and the world with a win in a game most expect them to lose.

The Colorado Avalanche are expected to lose tonight. Apparently when you’re on a back-to-back set going into Tampa, with the Lightning having rested the night before, it’s a scheduled loss.

Hmm, well, I hadn’t known that. Hopefully the Avalanche players didn’t know that either.

To be honest, this could be a throwaway game if it needed to be. I opined in my keys for the roadie post that Colorado coming away with six of the available points on this road trip would be a success. My rationale is that’s it’s the longest of the season and against some tough competition.

Well, after last night’s overtime win, Colorado has five points already. What’s more, they have yet to lose in regulation — their lone loss came in overtime to the Penguins.

We all know the general wisdom, though — you can never get too high after a win or too low after a loss. Even-keel is the way, and you’ve got to have short memories.

Memories do have to be short in this instance. Only about 18 hours separate the conclusion of the game against the Florida Panthers and puck drop in the Tampa game.

But Colorado can surprise the world and win a game they’re apparently supposed to lose. Let’s look at some keys.

Underdog Role

Superstar Nathan MacKinnon has remarked on a few occasions recently that the Avalanche welcome the pressure because “being the underdog is no fun.” Really? The current inception of the Avs have always thrived in that position.

Well, as noted above, they’re not the favored team to win tonight. It’s not that Tampa has gotten off to a better start — they’re 4-2-1 to Colorado’s 6-0-1. However, they’re the rested team playing at home tonight.

So, Colorado is an erstwhile underdog just for tonight. That puts them in just the right position to play their best game.

Dominance of Pavel Francouz

More from Analysis

At the time of writing, the starting goalie hadn’t been named. However, when he started Pavel Francouz at home, Jared Bednar remarked part of the reason was he didn’t want the goalie to get his first start on the road. Teams usually start different goalies in back-to-back series.

Going into this season, I fretted that the Colorado Avalanche didn’t have enough goalie depth. I was worried that first-year NHLer Pavel Francouz wouldn’t be adequate backup.

Well, he put all my worries to rest in the game against the Arizona Coyotes. He looked so solid in net. I really liked how confident he looked, and he was a large part of the reason Colorado won that game.

If he does start tonight, I expect a good showing from Frankie.

Secondary Scoring

Remember last season when the Colorado Avalanche got, like, 90% of its scoring from the top line? Ok, that’s not an exact statistic, but there’s no question that the top line drove the team’s success.

That’s not the case this season. Not only has the top line not been the dominating force — which isn’t great, but it’s what we’ve got — the team has gotten scoring from the other three lines.

That’s right, what was once a point of weakness, lines two through four, is now a source of strength. There’s not a single forward who’s played in all seven games who doesn’t have at least a goal, and everyone who’s played all seven have at least a point.

Colorado has depth.

Next. October Games to Watch. dark

All-time the Avalanche have gone 17-13-2-3 (ties) against the Lightning. The Bolts have beat the Avs in the last five matchups.

How to Enjoy the Game

Game time: Oct. 19, 5:00 pm MT
TV: ALT*, SUN (Bolts’ feed)
Radio: Altitude Radio (FM 92.5/AM 950)

*The Big 3 carriers have colluded to block Altitude TV from being broadcast in the Denver Metro area. However, you can watch all road games at Brooklyn’s near the Pepsi Center.

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