The Colorado Avalanche will try to improve on their record on Thursday night as they take on the Edmonton Oilers. Colorado is looking to get onto another win streak, after their last game ended in a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers. One of the key things I noticed in that particular game was the turnovers.
Turnovers have been a big problem for the Avalanche this season. They rank 11th in total giveaways in 2024-25 with 679 in 45 games. That comes out to about 15 turnovers per game. The leader in giveaways on the season is the Boston Bruins, with 750 in 46 games.
Yes, turnovers are bound to happen in literally every single hockey game. Sometimes, a turnover is boneheaded pass attempt. Other times, it is just a magnificent play by the other team. The Avalanche are guilty of the former, but have been gifted with the latter several times, including this beauty by Sam Girard.
Thankfully, the team has shown that it can bounce back from those mistakes. Not all of the time, but sometimes.
In the team’s 3-2 win against the Rangers, the Colorado Avalanche had two costly mistakes that led to breakaway goals going the other way. Like I said, those things are going to happen any year for any team. However, the crucial stat here is the number of giveaways by the Avalanche that have resulted in goals for the opposing team.
That number is 149.149 of their 679 giveaways have resulted in goals. Currently, that ranks 6th most in the entire league. It’s a dreadful stat to think about. I feel like the Avalanche have lacked some offense at points this season, and have had to come back from deficits this year. In fact, they are tied with the Carolina Hurricanes with the third-most comebacks this year, with 14.
Thursday night’s tilt against the Oilers will be a good test to see whether or not this team is capable of avoiding those costly mistakes, as Edmonton ranks fourth in takeaways per game at 5.45.