3 Things The Colorado Avalanche Need To Fix After The Season Opener – Hockey Writers – Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche had a disappointing season opener. Despite Mikko Rantanen’s outstanding performance, they lost 8-4 at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday night. The Avalanche started strong, taking an early lead on a beautiful one-timer from Rantanen. However, the momentum shifted, leading to an unexpected loss for the Avalanche.

Although there were many things to be happy about, there were also many things to worry about. It’s early in the season, and a lot can change with 81 games left to play. We’ve seen this before with this team, but three familiar patterns began to emerge that need to be looked at as the season progresses.

The Crime Can’t Always Be Carried by the Team

The Avalanche offense was solid all game. They had a strong start, controlling much of the first half of the first half. They kept up with the Golden Knights until midway through the third period, when Rantanen’s third goal of the night brought the Avalanche within a goal at 5-4 before it all went down.

Rantanen, who has yet to receive a contract extension, was expected to be a key part of the program at the start of the season. He played alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin and was a formidable force on the power play as well. He doesn’t need the puck on his stick long to make an impact. On three of his goals, the puck was off and off his stick in an instant. Colorado doesn’t have a lot of depth right now, so the big guns have to keep scoring if they want to stay afloat.

Related: Colorado Avalanche Can Afford Slow Start To 2024-25 NHL Season

It was a mixed night for the Colorado rookies. Calum Ritchie had chances to score but couldn’t find the net. He was benched briefly in the second half after a defensive error. Nikolai Kovalenko proved to be the strongest of the three, playing very well in the Avalanche’s third goal, but lost his man’s track again in Vegas’ fourth goal. Ivan Ivan was relentless on the forecheck but didn’t get much ice time in the third period.

There was no doubt that the Avalanche would have no trouble scoring with all their talent. The problem is, can they score goals and keep leading with the help of their goalkeeper? Every game cannot be a shootout; while it’s nice to see the goals pile up, it’s not a recipe for winning come the playoffs.

Self defense Needs to Do Better

The offense did a good job, but the defense struggled in the game. Colorado’s usually reliable defense had some misfires, especially during the Knights’ power play when Victor Olofsson scored late in the second period. Devon Toews tried to block but failed. Olofsson’s goal to make it 5-3 was caused by a bad break by Makar when he failed to clear the puck quickly enough. It was caught quickly before it crossed the blue line, and Vegas stopped again.

Ivan Barbashev scored his second impressive goal of the night past Sam Girard and scored on a layup, making it 7-4. The game started with a gain on the Vegas blue line, which led to a quick opportunity that led to a goal. These two goals stand out because they highlighted the collapse of the Avalanche defense. Despite giving Vegas three power play opportunities, they capitalized on two of them, scoring critical goals after the Avalanche had just scored their own to break the deficit. It was rare to see such a performance, but hopefully, it was a one-off.

Back on the Goaltending Problem Train

In their last preseason meeting, Vegas dominated Alexander Georgiev, winning 6-1. Although it was just a pre-season game, the same situation repeated itself in the first game. The Knights scored five goals against Georgiev on just 16 shots. Fans worried about this team’s goaltending will not feel any better after Wednesday night’s game. Colorado shut out the Golden Knights, but Georgiev couldn’t make a big save to keep the game close. Every time Colorado scored, the Golden Knights went down the other end and scored.

Not every goal was his fault, but Colorado needed more from their goaltender. In the third period, Jared Bednar replaced Georgiev with Justus Annunen, showing his dissatisfaction with Georgiev’s performance. Unfortunately, Annunen didn’t fare much better.

Is it time for the Avalanche to hit the panic button? Overall, no. It’s only the first game of the season, and there’s still a lot of hockey to be played. However, the vaccine situation can become a problem if not addressed now. Unfortunately, the clock has started ticking for the two goalkeepers who will have to find answers to the questions surrounding them soon. The Avalanche will be back on Saturday, October 12, when they will face the Columbus Blue Jackets in their home opener. The good thing is that Georgiev did badly in Game 1 after the 2024 season but he quickly came back and did well in the first round against the Winnipeg Jets, so let’s hope that we will see that again from him this season.

When you step back and take a breath, you realize it’s only the first game of an 82-game season. There will be games you will win, games you will lose, and more time to win and lose along the way. If the Avalanche live up to expectations this season in terms of their offense, defense, and goaltending, it’s going to be a long season with a lot of work to do if the trends don’t reverse.