Colorado Avalanche: Checking in Halfway Through 2019-2020 Season
The Colorado Avalanche have reached the half-season mark. They’re in a good position, and seem to be heading in the right direction.
The Colorado Avalanche (finally!) beat the St. Louis Blues last night. With that game, they have officially crossed the half-season mark.
That win — decisive win — allows this post to be a little more upbeat that it was probably going to be otherwise. Because for all my hopeful Decade in Review and “the team is trending up,” I was getting pessimistic. Hey, I’ve always been a “hope for the best, expect the worst” kind of person.
Anyway, let’s have a look at how our team is looking by the numbers.
Colorado Avalanche By the Numbers
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With last night’s win, the Avalanche are now 24-13-4 on the season. Their 52 points are good for second in the Central Division — second in the whole Western Conference. They’re six points back of St. Louis with a game in hand.
They have now improved to 4-5-1 in the last 10, which is trending up. They’re 11-7-2 at home and 13-6-2 on the road. Their goal differential is +29, which is second best in the NHL.
It should come as no surprise that Nathan MacKinnon is the leader in all points categories — points (62), goals (25), and assists (37). Our super rookie, Cale Makar, is at 31 points (9 goals, 22 assists) — he’s second on the team for points. He’s second only to Victor Olofsson in rookie scoring.
Colorado Avalanche Analysis
The Colorado Avalanche are an inconsistent team. All teams are to a degree, but Colorado really goes through highs and lows.
They have one of the best offenses in the NHL, but they’ve struggled on the power play at times. They have the best defense they’ve had in the modern era, and they’ve struggled on the penalty kill, too.
Their goal tending has been fantastic… until it isn’t. We’re not seeing quite the epic collapse we saw last season in goal, but neither goalie has been consistent.
The systems are working, but the coaching staff’s approach to a lot of other things are haphazard at best. They really seem to just throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. Luckily, the players have bought into the system enough — and they’re talented enough — to make it all work.
Several players, including supestar Nathan MacKinnon, are on pace for career seasons. And games are never boring.
Colorado Avalanche Need to Work On…
Killer instinct. Former Av Matt Duchene had a saying that I love. He used to say the team needed to put the the boot on the throat, nail in the coffin of the opponent.
The Avalanche did that last night, but they haven’t masted the talent yet. They can be a dominant team. But they absolutely take the foot off the gas sometimes when they’re leading.
I get the feeling this team thrives at being the underdogs. Well, that’s not an accurate role anymore. They are one of the best teams in the NHL, and they simply have to live up to those expectations.
Next. 31 Thoughts at 20 Game Mark. dark
It’s January, and the Colorado Avalanche have consistently been in a playoff spot since the season started. There are no guarantees, of course. However, after they bounced back from all those injuries to still be challenging in the West… well, that should give us all hope.