The Colorado Avalanche looked very much like they had the day off in Nashville on Sunday evening. They fell to the division foe Predators by a score of 6-2 in what looked to be an off game for the road team. As head coach Jared Bednar put it, you would have thought by watching the game that Colorado was the team that was on a back-to-back, when in reality, the Predators were.
It wasn’t so much over after the first period, but with Colorado unable to score in the initial frame, something had to be up. Maybe it was partially due to fatigue as well as mental lapses. The Avs were just not ready. Their defensive game has not been up to their standards this season for the most part. Despite guys such as Cale Makar and Devon Toews on defense, and the strong offensive firepower with Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas, the Avs were unable to do a ton offensively.
In the end, 5 former Avalanche players got the last laugh. Ryan O’Reilly, who hasn’t played for Colorado since the 2014-15 season, contributed with points on four of Nashville’s goals—two goals and two assists. There had been talk of a potential O’Reilly return to Colorado last season to give them more offensive depth, but that obviously did not materialize.
Jack Drury was shipped to Nashville in late-June, along with Chase Bradley and a third-round pick in 2029 for Fedor Svechkov and Zachary L’Heureux. Drury had one goal on two total shots. The loss of Drury Colorado sucked because he was a solid depth piece, recording 10 goals and 17 assists last season, which was somewhat of a breakout year for him. The Avalanche probably figured they had to move off of him because of cap reasons for the future. He ended up signing a 5-year extension worth $4.5 million AAV just four days after being moved.
Now, Alexander Kerfoot is the player who has been away from the Avalanche the longest. He spent just two seasons in Colorado. Kerfoot had 1 shot in 23 shifts across 17:28. He is listed as the Predators’ third-line center and is also on the first power play unit, which helped Nashville record 4 power play goals in the major win.
Ross Colton was another depth player for Colorado. He played some center as well as wing during his time with the Avalanche, but he eventually fell out of favor of Jared Bednar, eventually leading to his departure. Colton recorded an assist and two shots on goal against Colorado in the game. It wasn’t a big statistical night for him, but he still got one of the last laughs.
Perhaps the former Avalanche player with the biggest chip on his shoulder was goaltender Justus Annunen. Annunen got the call for this game against his former club, and held up with a .905 save percentage—he saved 19 of 21 shots. Colorado didn’t have the energy to get more shots on their former teammate, while Nashville laid 35 shots on Scott Wedgewood. Brutal.
With two days in between games, the Avalanche have a lot to think about. They need to figure something out. While they don’t necessarily need to do it fast, this sluggish pace cannot continue. They’re scoring fine for the most part, but their defense has not held up its end of the bargain. That is the biggest question mark for Colorado through the first 12 games of the season. With 72 more games to go, it’s plenty of time to figure it out. Putting up these types of performances in March would be more devastating than having it happen in late-October, but it’s still a bit concerning.
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