The Avalanche started the season 6-0, scoring 28 goals in six contests. With their sixth win versus the New York Islanders, they set an NHL record of 15 consecutive road wins, carrying over from the 2022 season. Things were going well. Then, the Avs entered PPG Arena to take on MacKinnon’s fellow Cole Harbor native, Sidney Crosby. There, the Pittsburg Penguins clogged up the Avalanche offense, and Tristin Jarry stopped all 31 shot attempts and gave the Penguins the shutout; the Avs lost 0-4.
While a shutout loss is never great, we can’t win every night. It is only one game. However, Sunday’s matinee game in Buffalo was Deja Vu. Once again, the Avs did not score a single goal and skated away in another 0-4 loss. After averaging over four goals a game in their first six games, the Avs have been outscored 0-8 in the last two. The Avs haven’t been shutout two games in a row since December 2016. The Avs had their chances; between Pittsburg and Buffalo, they had 11 power play opportunities and failed to capitalize on a single one. With the Avs scoring capabilities, this drought feels like we are in an episode of the Twilight Zone.
Since the shutout victory against the Blackhawks on October 19, the Avs have allowed four goals in every single game, which is, coincidentally, four straight games. Is Rob Blake haunting us for Halloween? Without Pavel Francouz on the bench, the Avs have been going with Georgiev in net every game. He had a great start to the season, and it was not his fault for the Avs' poor performances; he certainly didn’t get much help in front of the goal. However, he can’t play every game. The Avs claimed Ivan Prosvetov on waivers in early October, and he has played 14 NHL games with the Coyotes and eight minutes to close out the Penguins game last Thursday. The Avs have not had a particularly grueling start to the season, and with two full days off till the next game, Georgiev will have had the opportunity to rest, but at some point, the Avs will need to give Prosvetov the start to see what he can do.
While the Avs were struggling to generate anything in Sunday’s game, it became apparent what they needed: their captain. With all their dealings in the off-season, the one thing that still seems to be lacking is grittiness. That’s what we miss the most from Landeskog; he is a huge presence on the ice and isn’t afraid to get physical. Sometimes, it is that physical play that can generate the scrappy goal needed to get back in the game. MacKinnon and Makar are superstars; they will outskate and out-puck-handle their opponents all day, but they aren’t going to push the other team in the way Landy does. With him out indefinitely, the closest player we have to fill his role is Big Val Nichushkin. Nichushkin hasn’t had a bad start to the year, with one goal and five assists, but we haven’t seen him at his full freight train capabilities.
Is it time to panic? Of course not. The Avs are 6-2 to start the season. Everything is fine. It's more than fine because we have a healthy roster. It didn’t look that way when Cale Makar hobbled off the ice after a hit by Saber’s Okpsos that went unpenalized. Thank the Hockey Gods, Makar came back in the third. We may not have won, but after last year’s injuries, flying home with a healthy team feels like a win.
The Avs will return home on Wednesday night against the St. Louis Blues for the first divisional game of the year. My prediction: the Avs won’t be the ones shutout.