Every team in every sport goes through slumps throughout a season, especially one as long as the NHL season. The Colorado Avalanche remain at the top of the standings despite some frustrating losses along the way, including Monday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Star forward Nathan MacKinnon reacted to the loss and the words he spoke were the truth—the hard truth.
FollowIng their second loss in a row, and third loss in four games, MacKinnon pointed at the miscommunications the team had on Monday night, as well as Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets, as something that was a key component in their bad play.
"I think chemistry matters... it's no one's fault. It's just different. New team, a lot of different line combinations lately for everybody... tonight was just bad too. We just played bad"
— Guerilla Sports (@guerillasports) March 17, 2026
- Nathan MacKinnon after 7-2 loss to Pittsburgh#GoAvsGo | Powered By: @denvermattress pic.twitter.com/8rebIXnbaV
The Avalanche have been without Gabriel Landeskog, Ross Colton, Logan O’Connor, and others throughout various parts and lengths of the season. O’Connor has yet to play, though he’s reportedly getting pretty close. Landeskog, the team’s well-known captain, has missed a bunch of time and hasn’t played since March 6th.
Chemistry is a huge part of any sport. Unfortunately in the NHL, there has to be a lot of quick turnaround due to the frequency of every team’s games. Sometimes you have to play back-to-back nights. Sometimes you get one or two days off before getting back to facing another opponent. The injuries are a big part in chemistry, or lack thereof, but it’s also on the veterans in the group to come together and make sure miscues are kept to a minimum.
One thing that stood out like a sore thumb against the Penguins was that the Avalanche, again, struggled on the power play. What has been the story all year? Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, shoot.
That’s way too many passes. The power play has become very predictable and that’s one big reason as to why it’s struggled all season long. Teams study your play and tendencies and adapt to them. It’s not scary for opponents and if that remains true much longer, the Avalanche are going to lose a lot of faith and that will result in some more losses, including in the postseason.
The Avalanche need to wake up, and they need to do it now. Maybe this loss will do that.