With two games left in 2025, the Avalanche sit at the top of the standings with a whopping 63 points and only two regulation losses in 37 games played. Colorado is clicking on so many levels that the key to their success is almost impossible to narrow down to just one thing. One of those aspects, however, seems to have fallen under the radar.
Colorado has yet to lose to the same team twice.
Whether that loss came in regulation, overtime, or a shoot-out, the Avalanche learn from their mistakes and haven't allowed it to happen again.
In October, Utah handed Colorado their second non-regulation loss of the season with a 4-3 win in overtime. The Avs had previously defeated Utah at home, and went on to do it again just before Christmas with another win in Denver, courtesy of Samuel Girard's lone goal.
A couple weeks later, New Jersey defeated the Avs 4-3 in overtime at Prudential Center. At the time, the Devils were on a hot streak and battling back and forth with Colorado for that top spot in league standings, and the loss brought up a lot of talk of how much damage New Jersey might be capable of with a deep playoff run. The conversation didn't last long though, because just two days later in a back-to-back match up with the Devils, Colorado made a statement at home with an 8-4 win.
At the start of November, Colorado took a trip to the west coast to battle the San Jose Sharks, where they left with another overtime loss of 3-2. The Avs went on to win 10 in a row, capping off the streak with a brutal 6-0 win over San Jose. They'd finish out the month with only two overtime losses.
The second of those losses came on November 28th in Minnesota when the Avs came up short in the shootout. After the game, Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt had a post-game comment gain a lot of traction for it's boldness after one overtime win against the league's hottest team. Fans of teams like San Jose and New Jersey took to social media to warn the Wild fanbase and Wallstedt about what happens after narrowly defeating the Avalanche. Sure enough, Minnesota got to the same treatment the Sharks and Devils did when they stepped into Ball Arena on December 21st: A big 5-1 loss and their own special reminder from the Avs social team on reaping what you sow.
In another divisional matchup, the Avalanche lost to Nashville on December 9th at Bridgestone arena in a shootout where Colorado came up short once again. Not even ten day later though, the Predators came to Ball Arena where they also got the Colorado special and lost 4-2.
Colorado's other two non-regulation losses came from Dallas and Carolina. The Avs fell short to Dallas on October 11, in a 5-4 shootout loss, and have yet to rematch the team again. They will meet again on March 6 in Dallas for what's guaranteed to be a thrilling match-up of two central division rivals duking it out for first place. The Carolina loss also happened at home where the Avalanche debut their 30th anniversary Nordiques jerseys. They lost 5-4 in the shootout, and haven't met up with Carolina again since. They're next match is scheduled for January 3rd in Carolina, and will be another competitive game between two Stanley Cup contenders, and will feature the Nordiques/ Whalers sweaters again.
The only outlying losses that deviate from this pattern are the two measly regulation losses Colorado has. Funnily enough, those games have their own pattern. The Avalanche previously beat the, at home before losing to these teams on the road. Boston came to Denver on October 11th where the Avs defeated them 4-1, only to lose 3-2 at TD Garden a couple weeks later. The same goes for the New York Islanders, who lost 4-1 in Denver on November 16th, but defeated the Avalanche at UBS Arena on December 4th. Colorado will not face either of these teams again this season unless they somehow meet up in the playoffs, though those chances are extremely unlikely.
Colorado will have two more matchups this year before heading into 2026, where they can hopefully keep the good times rolling and keep up their pattern of not getting caught by the same team twice.