Yes, the Avalanche is cursed right now. But here's one thing to feel good about

BOSTON – Never seen anything quite like this, this curse. I grew up around this area, too, where I truly used to believe in curses. Like, I really, truly believed the Red Sox and Patriots were cursed. But, no, I don’t think that anymore. Not about them anyway.

But this overtime thing? It’s a curse at this point. The Avalanche lost again in overtime today, 2-1 to the Boston Bruins, on a Brad Marchand goal that went past Semyon Varlamov on a deflection.

The Avs lost all three games on this Eastern road swing. All in overtime. They got a point in every game though. Depending on one’s point of view, the glass is either half empty or half full on that.

But here’s one thing that is truly a positive, in this time of misery otherwise: Semyon Varlamov looks like he’s getting his groove back.

The Avalanche goalie played very well on this trip, getting better as the games went along. If the Avs are to have any hope of making the playoffs at this point, a hot goalie is the best way to get there. Varlamov is heating up.

Jared Bednar emerged from this game sounding hopeful that maybe this team is turning some kind of a corner. They are not only getting better goaltending from Varlamov, but the commitment to defense is there again. Remember that “Win 1-0” motto from a few days ago he preached? No, there still haven’t been any 1-0 games, but this was 2-1 and that represents some progress at least.

“We’ve been talking about cleaning up our checking and our commitment to defend and our awareness as a team,” Bednar said. “The last couple games have been a lot better in that area, and it’s leading to points, right? We came into three really tough buildings against three really good teams and we got points in all three. To me, that’s a huge step forward.”

I know some people reading this are going to see Bednar is in a little bit of denial here. The team has lost seven straight. Not all in regulation, of course. But, put better, they have not won a game in seven straight.

Varlamov is probably going to start every game in the near future now. He seems quicker on his feet again, moving side-to-side better. And his angles have been better. He made some really big saves in this one. Unfortunately for the Avs, Jaroslav Halak played out of his mind. He robbed Nathan MacKinnon on a breakaway, robbed Matt Calvert in overtime, robbed some other guys.

The dominated the first couple minutes of overtime, just like Saturday in Brooklyn. But then they lost a faceoff and couldn’t get control of the puck again for about 45 seconds. Marchand gets a lucky break to win it, and there you go. Another maddeningly frustrating loss in OT.

Again.

“What more can you do?” captain Gabe Landeskog told BSN Denver. “We’re dominating overtimes now, and they throw one from out on top of the zone. I don’t know if that’s the game plan, just throw one from the top of the zone and hope it hits something. But, I mean, to their credit it worked.”

Landeskog is OVER this overtime stuff, though.

I asked Landeskog if this is the most frustrating thing of his career, this OT hex?

“The way we’re losing games in overtime right now, yeah, it would have to be,” Landeskog said. “It’s just one of those things right now I guess. The only thing we can do is go back home, have a day off tomorrow, and regroup. Get back at it.”