Colorado Avalanche need to learn to win without Cale Makar

The Colorado Avalanche have lost their third game in a row after falling to the Los Angeles Kings by a final score of 4-1. It was essentially a 3-1 game until the very end when Los Angeles scored an empty net goal. One of the issues the team faced on Sunday night was the fact they are coming off a Saturday game. Although they’ve been good in back-to-back games, this one was a little bit too much for them.

A huge factor in this loss is the fact that Cale Makar did not play. Makar suffered some sort of injury in the third period of Saturday’s loss, and he did not return for overtime nor the shootout, which Colorado lost.

Losing Makar is a huge blow to this team, needless to say. The Colorado Avalanche will need to figure out ways to capitalize on chances and get the puck in the net regardless of Makar’s presence. Injuries are inevitable in hockey, so whatever the injury is that Makar is dealing with right now, other players need to make themselves known to opponents.

Bo Byram had two goals in Saturday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. He’s been taking a lot of criticism for some bad penalties this year, as he leads the league in minor penalties. Some were good, some were bad. That’s the nature of hockey sometimes.

The Colorado Avalanche had Sam Malinski in the lineup on Sunday and he played 18:04, third amongst the team’s defensemen. He did not record a single shot.

The team made some key mistakes on the ice on Sunday, and while it is still going to be a long season going forward, they need to clean things up. Makar can’t and won’t be their saving grace all the time.

I would love to see more from the team’s star forwards. The recent goal activity by the defensive units is not what we are accustomed to seeing. Nathan MacKinnon? Valeri Nichushkin? Mikko Rantanen? We’re going to need you to find the net!