Avalanche throw two points in the trash in superstar showdown

After a season of first-period struggles, the Colorado Avalanche finally had an explosive first period that you dream of, especially on home ice against a team that played the night before.

Jumping out to a 3-0 lead behind two Nathan MacKinnon goals, the Avalanche were rolling and Ball Arena was rocking as the first period wore down.

Despite being outshot and outplayed a bit, the Avs were dominating on the scoreboard and they were playing in front of a goaltender who had been exceptional for them.

It all started to flip late when a Viktor Arvidsson shot just inside the blueline was deflected off Josh Manson’s stick and changed the game to 3-1.

Edmonton has been the NHL’s hottest team over the last six weeks, so you knew they weren’t just going to roll over and that was going to be it. The goal propelled a steady and methodical comeback by the Oilers that ended in them walking out of Denver with a 4-3 win.

Mackenzie Blackwood finally had a tough night

Through 12 appearances (11 starts) with the Avs, Blackwood had been everything the Avalanche could have possibly hoped for. We knew there was going to be a regression at some point because he just wasn’t going to continue rolling along with a .940 save percentage and sub-2 goals against average.

That regression began with Arvidsson’s goal. In the world of blaming someone for every goal against, it’s hard to blame anybody for that one. Manson was in good position and the shot wasn’t particularly dangerous, but it took the right angle off of his stick and Blackwood wasn’t able to react in time.

In the second period, the Avs were getting obliterated as the Oilers were pressuring them non-stop. Blackwood was doing what he could but the Avs couldn’t get the puck out of their zone and after nearly two full minutes inside their own zone, a failed clear by Joel Kiviranta turned immediately into a goal by Brett Kulak from the point.

Blackwood never saw the puck thanks to Corey Perry’s unimpeded screen in front, which happened because the puck should have easily been out of the zone and the Avs skaters were making a beeline for the bench. When the puck stayed in, Blackwood never saw it come off Kulak’s stick and didn’t react at all. It’s a bad goal and one he had not allowed since coming to Colorado.

The third goal was another case of persistent zone time eventually wearing Colorado down and Connor McDavid snagging a puck out of the air and getting a clean look on the backdoor. It was tied and the game had gone from a buzzing crowd loving life to one feeling the stress of the pendulum swinging back against them in such a sharp way.

A more competitive third period did not go Colorado’s way as Evan Bouchard rocketed a slap shot in to give the Oilers the game-winning goal. The magic of the comebacks against Buffalo (twice) and against the New York Rangers two nights ago was not to be found in this game and the Avalanche blew a game they should have had.

Blackwood had his worst outing as an Av, allowing more than two goals for the first time and Colorado’s offense just couldn’t get it geared up again.

The power play continues to be a real problem

The Avalanche failed to score on two power play chances tonight, though the first one was abbreviated. Of course, it was only less than a full two minutes because Colorado’s guys couldn’t be bothered to give enough of a damn to stop the Oilers from generating easy pressure with the puck and a lazy approach to backchecking resulted in MacKinnon having to desperately commit a penalty to stop a scoring chance.

Tied 3-3 in the third period, the Avs got another look with the man advantage. It did nothing. In 3:14 with a 5v4 advantage, Colorado managed one shot attempt, which at least went on goal, and one scoring chance. That’s it.

While Edmonton got four power plays that spanned 7:14, look what they did against a solid PK unit from the Avs. They had 14 shot attempts, eight shots on goal, 12 scoring chances, and eight high-danger chances. It was as dangerous as you could ever ask a power play to be without actually scoring.

Granted, that solid PK unit from the Avs also managed three shots on goal, two scoring chances, and one high-danger chance. That, of course, means the Colorado penalty kill was significantly more dangerous than the power play. You have five players heading to Four Nations tournament next month as all-world players. Three of them are elite guys whom you expect the best from.

You can have your frustrations all day about Colorado’s depth, the injuries, the underperformance of whichever player you’re mad about, but when we’re talking about the power play, that is Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Mikko Rantanen. Those three are the staples here.

Don’t give me anything about Val Nichushkin and his presence in front of the net. Obviously his absence is notable, but he’s not the difference between this unit being passable and it being atrocious because he was still on the ice when the struggles began back in December.

So much of what Colorado does is about those guys, but their inability to even generate pressure on the power play is a major, major problem. They are in a serious funk. It might be time for head coach Jared Bednar to do the hard thing and bench them for a power play or two next game because letting them play their way through it has not been working for going on six weeks now.

I doubt Colorado will do it because it’s hard to believe the answer to their power play problems is unemployed right now, but the conversation about letting longtime power play coach Ray Bennett needs to at least start happening before this continues slipping away.

I still place the largest amount of blame on the players, but the lack of adjustments and willingness to try different stuff out has been hard to watch.

The bounce back is always important

The Avs were awful against the Rangers two nights ago and didn’t deserve to win. Blackwood’s brilliance stole two points, but it feels karmically balanced now because the Avs just gave two points away with an atrocious second period and inability to close the game.

What’s done is done, though, and they can’t get those points back. They have three huge Central Division games in a row against the three teams ahead of them in the standings, beginning Saturday when they host the Dallas Stars.

They had to respond tonight to their ghastly play against the Rangers and they did that early on. They didn’t finish the job, however, and it means they are once again in need of a little soul-searching, this time against the Stars.

If they can put them behind them and continue rolling along at the .700 win rate they’ve been at since early December, this is just a loss that stings a little. If this sets them down into even a small spiral, they will be putting themselves in danger of falling out of contention for competing in the Central Division.

They absolutely cannot let tonight’s meltdown carry over into the next week of games. They cannot.