How the Colorado Avalanche put together a scorching record over the last 10 games

It is the practice of Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar to look at each 10-game segment for the team. By doing this, he finds trends in the team’s play, both strengths to build on and weaknesses to iron out. Because of the team’s success this time around, it is likely that he will have much more of the former to discuss rather than the latter, although the team was not without some problems (ahem, power play).

With the second group of 10 games completed, let’s look at how the Avs managed to put together such a dominant run.

How the Avalanche got here

The Avs had a revenge win against New Jersey followed by a strong showing against Vegas. They lost in overtime to San Jose. Then they went on a 7-0-0 run by defeating Tampa Bay, Edmonton, Vancouver, Anaheim, Buffalo, and both New York teams. Those final four victories took advantage of a 10-day stretch at home that included some days off to rest and recharge.

Outscoring their problems

The Colorado Avalanche outscored their opponents 51-24 over these past ten games. That +27 goal-differential mark alone would lead all teams in the league by a wide margin exceeding Carolina’s +15 by 12 goals. This production far exceeds the 33 that they scored in the first 10 games of the season. The vast majority of this production has come during 5v5 play, which means that there could even be another level of offensive production that the team could attain if they can get the power play to chip in consistently.

Top line staying hot and getting hotter

The trio of Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, and Artturi Lehkonen exceeded their fiery levels of production from the start of the season. They scored 17 goals and 37 points over the first 10 games of the season and produced even better results with 20 goals and 45 points during the second 10-game segment. This line is really clicking, and they still have plenty of runway left in the season to become even more dominant as they hone their chemistry together.

Cale Makar gaining momentum

The Avs’ star defenseman is also elevating his game, both on the offensive and defensive ends of the ice. While the possession numbers suggest an even-field of play, Makar’s abilities tilt the ice in the Avs’ favor considerably in terms of real production. For example, based on the 5v5 data over the last 10 games, the expected goals for the Avs with Makar on the ice was 7.13 and against the Avs 7.66. The actual results were 13 goals for and seven against. His presence alone helped the Avs go from break-even production to domination. There are also trickle-down effects from him taking so many top matchups because it frees up the rest of the defense to take advantage of their opportunities against lesser competition. At 5v5, the rest of the Avs defense, not counting Toews, has been on the ice for approximately 22 goals for and eight against.

Depth contributions

While the top line accounted for half of the team’s goals in the first 10 games of the season, they only tallied just under 40 percent during the second set of 10 games, despite scoring three more goals over that time span. The reason for that was the added contributions from the rest of the forwards. Victor Olofsson led the way with six goals, followed by Brock Nelson and Parker Kelly with four each. The rest of the Avs forwards had 11 goals between them. Put together, that accounts for just under half of the Avs’ goals scored. If they can keep up that level of production, the Avs will be in a great position as the season wears on.

Still some things to work out of their armor

As great as the Colorado Avalanche have been over this stretch of 10 games, there are still some aspects of their game that need some troubleshooting. As mentioned before, the power play is the most glaring need, one which stands to benefit them the most if they can bring it online. Outside of that, the Avs need to carefully manage their goaltending situation. While Scott Wedgewood has played great to start the season, the team will be in a better position once Blackwood is fully reintegrated. The Avs have also had to contend with the injury bug, particularly to Valeri Nichushkin, and have had to make adjustments. As long as the number of injuries at any given time is limited, they should be able to manage. If they start to accumulate, the team’s depth could struggle to hold the fort over an extended period of time.

It feels crazy to say that a team that almost had a perfect record over the last ten games still has a lot of room for improvement, but such is the case with the Colorado Avalanche. It is going to be fun to see how they follow up this magnificent performance. The majority of those 10 games come against struggling teams and will be an opportunity for them to give themselves a comfortable cushion moving forward.