Colorado Avalanche Must Stop Losing Skid Against Islanders
The Colorado Avalanche are on a three-game losing skid. We’d like to see that skid halted tonight.
The Avalanche lost in regulation to the Washington Capitals on Thursday night. On Saturday, they lost to Tyler Toffoli‘s hat trick for the LA Kings during the Stadium Series. (The Kings traded him yesterday — why couldn’t they do that before the Stadium Series game?)
They then clawed back from a two-goal deficit to lose to the Tampa Bay Lightning in overtime.
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The insult to all this is that all three were home games. The Avs went from taking four of five on the road to dropping three straight at home.
Well, hopefully that ends tonight. With a win tonight, Colorado has a chance to at least play at .500 for their five-game home stand.
Return of Semyon Varlamov
The Colorado Avalanche are going to face former Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov tonight, and that stinks. For us, Varlamov was the kind of goalie who could steal a game or cost a game.
For the Islanders on January 6, when the two teams first met, he was the former. He made 32 saves to shut the Avalanche out.
And he’s supposed to be in net tonight. Curse of the former Avs. Well, he already threw the shutout against Colorado. So, hopefully we get the latter Varlamov — the one who would cost games.
Debut of Martin Kaut
Forward prospect Martin Kaut is set to make his NHL debut tonight. At the time of writing, there was no official word, but it was said in practice he’d probably play on the third line with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Matt Nieto.
Kaut was the Avalanche’s first-round draft pick in 2018, going #16 overall. He’s spent the last two season playing with the Colorado Eagles.
Playing with a Man Down
The Colorado Avalanche’s mantra with all the injuries they’ve had this season is “Next man up.” I think that’s insulting. I get what it means — other players have to step up to help close the gap left by the injured player. However, “next man up” suggest no player has unique skills that he brings to the team.
And that’s inherently untrue.
That said, the Avs play well with a man down. Early in the season, Colorado was practically losing a player a game. And they were losing important players, including both Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog at one point.
When they are a man down, the Avalanche seem to pull together better. They stop relying on talent and play a consistent game. So, hopefully then play Man Down hockey tonight.
dark. Next. Lessons from AFA Stadium Series Game
How to Enjoy the Game
Game Time: Feb. 19, 8:00 pm MT
TV: ESPN+, ALT, MSG+
Radio: Altitude Radio (FM 92.5/AM 950)