Sloppy defense dooms Avalanche in 6-2 loss to visiting Wild
Feb 25, 2021, 6:28 AM | Updated: 9:18 am
Prior to Wednesday’s 6-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild, the Colorado Avalanche hadn’t lost back-to-back games yet this season. But defensive breakdowns and an overworked goaltender led to their first such streak, one that they won’t have much time to dwell on.
“Too many mistakes on the defensive side of things,” head coach Jared Bednar explained. “We’re on the power-play, a (defensive)-zone face-off, and we’re trying to do everything right. We kick the puck back and then run into the official. We’re getting ready to go on a breakout and they score.”
Philipp Grubauer had a rough night in Wednesday’s 6-2 loss, saving only 79 percent of the Wild’s 24 shots. Grubauer has started all but two of the Avalanche’s games this season, and those other two starts (by backup Hunter Miska) were losses. Grubauer now faces a back-to-back set against the Coyotes on Friday and Saturday with only Thursday’s day off. With backup Pavel Francouz out “long-term,” according to Bednar, the Avs are probably riding Grubauer a bit too hard; not that they have much of a choice.
General manager Joe Sakic would be well-advised to start shopping for a veteran goaltender; they’re taking an awful risk with Grubauer, who missed the end of the Avalanche’s playoff run last year with injury.
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NEXT UP: Avalanche (9-6-1, 19 pts) at Coyotes (9-7-3, 21 pts) | Friday, Feb. 26 at 7:00 p.m.
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TEAM NOTES
• The Avalanche won’t have more than one day off between games for the rest of the season; a brutal schedule that will wear goalie Philipp Grubauer down in a hurry, unless the team adds a NHL-caliber backup.
• Colorado’s 0-for-16 streak on the power-play was finally snapped when Nazem Kadri punched a puck past Wild goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen in the second period.
• The Avalanche killed both Wild power plays to retain their top spot in the NHL. The Colorado penalty-kill unit has been a spectacular 47-for-53 (88.7 percent) on the season.
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PLAYER NOTES
• Cale Makar’s assist on Wednesday put him in elite company. His 50th career helper came in only his 71st career game; only four defensemen have ever reached that mark faster: Larry Murphy (62), Mark Howe (65), Stefan Persson (66) and Brian Leetch (69). Murphy, Howe and Leetch all became Hall-of-Famers, while Persson was a major cog on the Islanders team that won four consecutive Stanley Cups between 1979-83.
• Brandon Saad missed Wednesday’s game due to the expected birth of his second child. “They’re due to have a baby,” coach Jared Bednar said prior to the game. “Him and his wife, they went into the hospital last night. We’re hoping and praying that everything is going good there. She was due to have the baby this week and it just so happened to land on today.”
• Gabriel Landeskog was elevated to the top line on Wednesday, reuniting him with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. That line didn’t produce a point together, but Rantanen did log an assist on Nazem Kadri’s power-play goal as part of that unit.
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THE FINAL WORD
“A little bit of adversity is good for us as a group, and it’s going to be good for us long-term. Good teams find a way to turn these things around pretty quickly. I have no doubt we’ll do that.” — Gabriel Landeskog, on the Avalanche’s two-game losing streak; the first of this season.
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INJURY WATCH
• Dennis Gilbert (facial injury) was placed on injured reserve on Feb. 20. He is expected to be out until at least late March.
• Kiefer Sherwood (unspecified) missed the Feb. 16 game and has not played since.
• Erik Johnson (upper-body injury) left the Jan. 30 game and is week-to-week.
• Matt Calvert (concussion symptoms) has not played since Jan. 24. On Jan. 28, coach Jared Bednar said he will be cautious regarding his timetable for return.
• Pavel Francouz (lower-body injury) has yet to play this season and remains on injured reserve.
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LAST NIGHT’S LINES
FORWARDS:
Top Line: LW Gabriel Landeskog, C Nathan MacKinnon, RW Mikko Rantanen
Second Line: LW Matt Calvert, C Nazem Kadri, RW Joonas Donskoi
Third Line:, LW Andre Burakovsky, C J.T. Compher, RW Valeri Nichushkin
Fourth Line: LW Tyson Jost, C Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, RW Logan O’Connor
DEFENSEMEN:
Top Pair: LD Devon Toews, RD Cale Makar
Second Pair: LD Bowen Byram, RD Samuel Girard
Third Pair: LD Ryan Graves, RD Conor Timmins
GOALTENDERS:
Starter: Philipp Grubauer
