The Colorado Avalanche are in the midst of a brutal stretch following a 2-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. They’ll have to face the Edmonton Oilers, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, and New Jersey Devils over their next five games, three of those games coming on the road.
But first, they had to tangle with their rivals, the Dallas Stars. A late push had fans thinking the comeback could be made complete, but Mason Marchment ultimately cut the effort short. Here are a few important takeaways from the Avalanche’s 5-3 loss to the Stars on Friday night (Nov. 29).
Nichushkin Stays Hot
After going scoreless in his first three games since returning from suspension, Valeri Nichushkin seems to have found his stride. He scored a power-play goal to tie the game 1-1 in the first period, his third of the season. More importantly, it is his third in four games and he’s coming alive at the right time.
The Avalanche continue to deal with injury woes. Jonathan Drouin is out with the uncertain “upper-body injury.” Gabriel Landeskog keeps facing setbacks and has no official timeline for a return. Guys like Nichushkin need to step up and take the pressure off the big stars as the season wears on.
There were a ton of questions surrounding Nichushkin during the offseason. The fact that he has not only come back to the lineup but has managed to step his game up is a major bright spot for the Avalanche. He is going to be asked to fill the gap between the top line and the rest of the lineup and has so far answered the call.
Goaltending Remains a Huge Issue
Team defense did him no favors against the Stars, but Alex Georgiev is slowly starting to look like the same guy who started the season on a horrid cold streak. This is the third time in four games that Georgiev has given up three goals or more, surrendering four on 19 shots on Friday.
Related: Avalanche Should Target Sharks’ Blackwood in Major Trade
It’s no secret that the Avalanche are doing their due diligence on certain trade targets. Given the performance of Georgiev this season, and the return to earth after a hot start for Justus Annunen, it feels like the Avalanche need to find an answer in the net sooner rather than later.
Collectively, the Avalanche have one of the worst team save percentages of all time at this point. They are a full 20 points below the Montreal Canadiens, whose .875 team save percentage is second worst in the league. Something has to change because that kind of goaltending will kill this team and its playoff chances.
Has Anyone Seen Casey Mittelstadt?
Through the first 13 games of the season, Casey Mittelstadt was off to the best start of his career. With 16 points in 13 games, including back-to-back three-point efforts, it seemed as though the Avalanche had found their first true No. 2 center since Nazem Kadri walked out the door.
In his last nine games, however, Mittelstadt has fallen off the face of the earth. Aside from posting a goal and an assist in the game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Mittelstadt has been held off the score sheet. Even worse, he is minus-4 in that stretch, upping his team-worst plus/minus to a ghastly minus-13.
The Avalanche already pay a ton for their top-end talent and will have to pay more to keep Mikko Rantanen in town. For that reason, they desperately need guys like Nichushkin and Mittelstadt to perform and become legitimate producers for the middle part of the lineup. Mittelstadt’s slump has been tough to watch, and he needs to snap out of it sooner rather than later.
A Tough Loss for the Avalanche
This loss is disappointing for a couple of reasons. For starters, that’s two points lost to a division opponent. Things are tight as it is, and those two points can become a major difference. Secondly, it is tough to see the team push hard to come back only to fall short in the end.
There are 82 games, and you can’t win them all, right? The Avalanche have no choice but to dust themselves off and look forward to the next one. It’s a toughie, a home game against the defending Western Conference champion Oilers. Nothing would kick off the five-game road trip on the horizon like a decisive win over Connor McDavid and company.
