The Colorado Avalanche are coming off of a back-to-back that saw them both win against the Dallas Stars and lose against them. On Friday, they get a chance to get on a roll against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have been pretty inconsistent this season.
Pittsburgh has 24 goals on the season while giving up 21. On Tuesday, they lost 5-3 to a weak but up-and-coming team in the Chicago Blackhawks. That is a reason that Colorado should look at Pittsburgh and be confident in what they are able to put out on the ice in this tilt.
At the same time, you don’t want your team to feel overconfident. You still have to go out and try your hardest, even if it isn’t fully necessary some games. Momentum can flip on a dime.
Colorado will have a new assistant coach in Brett McLean, who is replacing Dave Hakstol as he heads to Arizona State. The hope with this change is that the power play starts to get it together. It doesn’t take a scientist to know that the power play has been underwhelming. Now, unfortunately, the Penguins have an 89.5% penalty kill through seven games played. That means that it will be another big test for the Avs’ power play unit.
Avalanche have to get out of their own way
The Avalanche’s struggles have mostly been self-inflicted. There have been numerous examples of Colorado turning the puck over in their own zone, leading to quality chances for their opponents.
They obviously have the firepower to have a chance in every single game, but it doesn’t matter when players are trying to force passes into lanese that just aren’t there. The game against the Toronto Maple Leafs is a good example of that.
"I wasn't disappointed with the number of chances we gave up. I just did not like some of the chances. Like just mental mistakes, that's what it was. Wasn't from lack of effort, lack of try. It was mental mistakes, and when they got their chances, they capitalized on them."Jared Bednar on loss to Maple Leafs
The Penguins do have one of the best players of his time in Sidney Crosby. Thankfully, Crosby is having a somewhat slow start to the season, with two goals and two assists in seven games. It’s not terrible, but if Colorado is able to contain Crosby as much as he has been this season, they could have a strong chance of winning this game.
As Bednar pointed out following the loss to the Maple Leafs, mental mistakes, mental mistakes, mental mistakes.
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