Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes you lose again. And again. And again. With the shutout loss to the Phoenix Coyotes last night, the Avalanche have lost four games in a row, and MacKinnon’s 13 game point streak has come to an end. Until Saturday night, MacKinnon had racked up a point in every game this season, and had the longest active streak in the NHL. His longest point streak will have to remain (for now) at 14 from his 2017-18 season. I suppose all good things must come to an end, but personally, and I’m sure MacKinnon would agree, that I would rather they didn’t.
The Avalanche had an explosive start to the season, where they were 8-1-1 after defeating the Vegas Knights on October 25th, but since then have been looking a little to similar to the Avs of yore. It doesn’t help that two of their top players are on injury reserve. Mikko Rantanen has been out since his lower body injury that occurred on October 21st in St. Louis, also the game where the Avs recorded their first regulation loss of the season. If that wasn’t a big enough blow, Gabriel Landeskog was right behind him with another “lower body injury”. It is unclear exactly when or how he was injured. However, the timing couldn’t be better for him and his wife, who just gave birth to their first baby. Captain Gabe is now Daddy Landy!
It is uncertain when Rantanen or Landeskog will return to the line up, which leaves MacKinnon as the lone member of their superstar line. This is obviously not great news for the Avs, and with 4 straight losses (ok, one was an OT loss), the Avalanche have not exactly been responding well to their first test of adversity this season. While it hasn’t proven itself as of yet, this is now an opportunity for the younger and newer members of the team to step up. No team should be dependent on their top line, and now is the time for the Avalanche to truly start working on their depth. It is a long season, and an even longer one when you plan to go deep in the playoffs.
The most recent loss to the Coyotes was not pretty, and was the first scoreless game for the Avs this season. To their credit, the Avs did put up a strong fight in the second period where they generated 17 shots on goal, compared to the Coyote’s 3. And perhaps to their discredit, the Avs were given five power play opportunities in that period that they failed to capitalize on. It could be due to the outstanding netminding by former Minnesota Wild foe, Darcey Kuemper, but I don’t think it was the goaltending that cost them the game. The Avs did not have the energy that they have possessed in the first part of the season. They looked flat, and truthfully didn’t deserve to win. Though I will always take an unearned victory over a loss.
Luckily for us, we are only 14 games into the season, and since all good things must come to an end, it is only a matter of time until we are on the upswing again. The Avs will faceoff against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, and if that doesn’t prove to be the game where they start to turn things around, I predict that Saturday night vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets will be the night. The sole reason being that I will be at the Can, and let’s face it, the Avs always play better when I am in attendance.