The Colorado Avalanche are being tested right now. The unavoidable conversation about issues in the net only speak to part of the problem. As has been said on MHS, the broader question of team confidence is a major concern.
Presumptive starter Alexandar Georgiev's roller-coaster play has been hard to watch at times. No example so clear as #40 getting pulled after just 12 minutes on Tuesday. Allowing 4 goals on just 8 shots is a stat-line that makes you want to reach for the nearest barf bag.
Make no mistake, Georgiev was bad. But the team around him was awful too. The insertion of new arrival Scott Wedgewood in the first nightmare frame didn't immediately fix things. But it did stabilize them, making their comeback possible to begin with.
Wedgewood's 22 save performance was great. It was exactly what the team needed. As of now though, they have merely salvaged a game they should probably have lost. How can they take the momentum forward from that type of exhilarating win and pile up more points in the standings?
In the short-term, you start Wedgewood tonight in Carolina. That much, probably all Avalanche fans would agree on. That is a hefty assignment for any netminder, but especially for one new to the team. It helps that Wedgewood is a career backup. He is used to the stress of coming in cold, and getting less reps.
Carolina meanwhile, has a solid season mark of 16-8-1. But, they are currently in the midst of a 3 game losing skid. Two of those games were this past weekend in a back-to-back against Florida. The most recent was Tuesday's loss against the Kraken. Mentally, the Hurricanes may be in their own funk. In other words, it could be a great chance for Colorado to reset the tone.
Their last road trip was quite the success, reeling off three wins before running out of gas in an 8-2 beating in Tampa. That game was dreadful, and ended up being Justus Annunen's last appearance between the pipes for Colorado.
Disaster games like that certainly have consequences in a league of the world's best. By rescuing what could and maybe should have been an embarrassment on Tuesday, the Avalanche instead reminded us why they can be great.
Nathan MacKinnon flashed some MVP form, breaking his 10-game goalless drought, with two tallies. We saw depth scoring from Joel Kiviranta and Logan O'Connor. Artturi Lehkonen finished the job. Those were the headlines from the box score.
Deeper down though, something very encouraging happened. Calvin de Haan had two helpers. First on the Joel Kiviranta goal, and then later on with Nathan MacKinnon on the Artturi Lehkonen game winner. I have written before about how a key facet of Colorado playing well is in defensive contributions in offensive output.
This was even more evident in de Haan's turnaround. Tuesday he got 2 of his 5 points on the season. But most importantly, it was after he was flat out bad on two of the goals against in the first period. A goalie's confidence or lack thereof rubs off on everyone.
Colorado will need more consistency from de Haan, and the rest of the defense now that both Josh Manson and Oliver Kylington are out. Both players left Saturday's home-loss to Edmonton, with apparent upper-body issues. Manson was placed on IR on Monday. Kylington was originally day-to-day, but it may be worse.
Until recently the gauntlet of Avalanche injuries have all been about a decimated forward core. Adding bruises to the blueline is definitely less than ideal.
Home disadvantage for the Colorado Avalanche
At the moment Ball Arena feels like home-ice that has lost its shine. The Avalanche are just 7-7 right at home (a curious mirror of Gerogie's own record overall ), and 7-5 on the road. Those kind of splits feel worse than they are statistically to fans. The Avalanche are typically very good at home.
If we look at last season's 31-9-1 mark this year's .500 pace looks alarmingly depressing. Or, if remembering fondly the last Cup winning year in 2022, we'll see another sterling 32-5-4 home record. Even with these rather stark numbers I don't think it's worth despairing in early December.
Consider for instance the year in-between those I mentioned. In 2022-23 the Avalanche were just 22-13-6 at Ball. Meanwhile, they spent the season as absolute road warriors. They went 29-11-1 away from Colorado with all its perceived advantages.
Remember too, that while neither of the past two seasons ended in a Championship, the road reliant Avs of 2023 actually finished 1st in the Central. While they didn't find success in the playoffs, it underscores how every year is a unique challenge. If you can get to the playoffs the path there is less important than the one through.
There will be more said about the goaltending situation to be sure. Alexandar Georgiev has arguably lost his net twice this season if we are going by a simple eye-test. First, he seemed to lose it to Justus Annunen after the 0-4 start. Now a different type of 0-4 stat looks like it may have shattered Georgiev. (the score in the first to Buffalo).
It seems ironic and cruel that Georgiev has had such whiplash inducing performances. His best game was at home against the Vegas Golden Knights, where he outdueled Adin Hill in a 2-1 shootout win. I was both thrilled after that performance and mystified by Georgiev not receiving recognition with even one of the three star awards post-game.
Georgiev hasn't won a game since, dropping tough games to Dallas and Edmonton and getting chased against Buffalo. Fans do not want excuses from pros, but if you are asking why the starting goalie is a head-case currently losing faith with the team and fans realizing someone selected from your home-crowd chose to snub you after a shootout win AND give a star to Adin Hill - that's got to crush a guy's heart.
Perhaps I'm making too much of a little thing to find answers to straight up sloppy play. But in any case I believe that the Avs need the road right now to refocus on the bigger picture. As ever, I believe they can do it.
It starts tonight with familiar questions about what happens between the pipes. But will take a total team effort if Colorado wants to get back to consistent, quality hockey. The key for me, is that they start aggressive on offense.
After one period in Buffalo, Colorado had just 9 shots on goal. By the end of the furious comeback they registered a robust 41! Give me that kind of effort with the puck and whole host of issues will work themselves out. It sounds simple but any goalie who needs help would love to see those numbers in support.
It could very well be that playing away from home could allow the Avalanche to get back to working their system basics and finding their pace again. At home, you sometimes see teams look for a kind of vibe shift that comes from the crowd. On the road, you only have the guys on the bench beside you.