The Colorado Avalanche are in an unfamiliar territory early in the 2026-27 season. They are third in the Central Division, tied for second in the division with nine points, and seem to be a bit of an afterthought in NHL power rankings.
While NHL.com classifies the Avalanche as being one of the best teams in the league, the site ranks them as the fourth-overall best team right now. That is respectable, given that it ranks them as the top team in the Central Division, but the reasoning really should be much better.
"Goaltending is the only question on a team considered to be among the best in the League this season because of the talent at every other position. The goaltending for the Avalanche has not been elite with starter Mackenzie Blackwood playing to a .879 save percentage through five games. He faced more than 30 shots in only one of those five starts, which is problematic. But the blueprint to success was on display Tuesday. Blackwood was good enough, stopping 24 of 26 shots and keeping the rival Dallas Stars at bay until Colorado’s high-powered offense could take over. More of that and the Avalanche will be more than fine."Shawn P. Roarke
Look, I get it. On the surface, an .879 save percentage is absolutely atrocious. Abysmal. But focusing on pure statistics alone isn’t the right way to grade a team’s performance. Nitpicking specific statistics is just plain poor judgment. What Roarke neglects to point out is the team’s inability to maintain possession of the puck in their own zone, as well as the neutral zone. I would be curious to find out how many goals exactly have come after a turnover by Colorado.
That is what has been dooming the Avalanche the most this season. You can point to the team’s power play, and yes, it has been one extremely poor phase of their game, but you cannot ignore turnovers. Nestor Quixtan points out one of the poorest turnovers from the team’s game against the Stars the other night by Sam Malinski.
In that particular instance, Blackwood bailed the Avalanche out.
No, Blackwood has not been lights out perfect for the Avalanche this season. Head coach Jared Bednar pointed out that he wanted his goaltender to come up with a few extra saves. But that is simply because of the fundamental mistakes happening in front of him.
This team is supposed to be a Stanley Cup contender. But over the past couple of games, it does not feel like they are up to the task. Something is very wrong with both the special teams play as well as the defensive game. It doesn’t help that Colorado turns the puck over on offense. It does put the defense in a terrible position a lot of the time. But at the same time, playing defense is part of the job.
Once the defense gets on a roll and starts to figure things out, we should see better play across the board. I don’t think goaltending is as much of an issue as a lot of people seem to. Fans appear to be quite done with Blackwood, but it’s the play right in front of him that has be way more concerned. Going forward, I need to see better puck possession and less sloppy play.
Colorado’s next game is on Friday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, led by Sidney Crosby.
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