The Good, the Bad and the Ugly from the past week with the Colorado Avalanche

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In a rough and tumble week for the Colorado Avalanche, this week’s the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly covers a mixed bag of events.

THE GOOD

1. Mikko Rantanen earned his first ever NHL point on an assist against the Minnesota Wild on Captain Gabriel Landeskog‘s game-winning goal. Congratulations! And may this be only the first in a stellar career.

2. The Avalanche hustled out a home win against the Minnesota Wild. Goaltender Calvin Pickard notched his second NHL shutout in the win. Nice to see the Avalanche get that monkey off their shoulder and start a new winning tradition against the Mild.

3. Pickard has come up big for the Avalanche, winning all three games he has started, sporting a .946 save percent, good enough for fifth place. His goals against average of 1.50 places him third among active goaltenders. Either way you slice it, Pickard’s proving he can be relied upon. Maybe the team needs to ride the hot goalie for a bit while fellow goaltender Semyon Varlamov rediscovers his game.

4. The Avalanche kept acclaimed scoring defenseman P.K. Subban from getting a single point for the Nashville Predators even though Colorado lost the game 5-1.

5. Forward Matt Duchene sits near the top of the NHL leader board with six goals scored and 10 total points over 11 games. Not bad for a team with scoring issues.

6. The Avalanche seem to be developing a top defensive pairing with the combination of Erik Johnson and Nikita Zadorov. Both players have done a good job cutting down dangerous plays by their opponent despite the number of defensive zone starts they take against top lines. Now, who else is ready to elevate their game?

7. The new forward line combination of Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene and Mikko Rantanen brings some real energy to the ice. It should be just a matter of time until they adjust to each other before this line dominates. Hopefully, Coach Bednar will leave them together long enough for them to gel.

8. Avalanche prospect A.J. Greer continues to impress in San Antonio as he racked up 11 points in 11 games with three goals and eight assists, leading the team in points. He currently ranks second in scoring among all AHL rookies and is 16th among all AHL players. Not bad for his AHL debut.

9. Despite getting outscored 14-3 over the last week, the Avalanche have a 5-6 record with 10 points, placing them just one win away from sitting in a wild card slot. Last year after 11 games, the team was a dismal 3-7-1 with only one win at home.

10. Hats off to Carl Soderberg for leading the team with 180 consecutive game appearances. Jarome Iginla takes second place in the ironman awards with 175 straight games.

11. Congratulations to defenseman Nikita Zadorov as he just completed his 100th NHL game against the St. Louis Blues. Hopefully game 101 will bring a team victory. And maybe a point for Zadorov?

In case you missed Landeskog’s game winning goal agains the Wild –

THE BAD

1. News broke on Sunday that former Avalanche member Marek Svatos died at the age of 34. Thank you for all the exciting moments, may you rest in peace.

2. The St. Louis Blues showed class in taking a moment of silence before the game to honor the memory of Svatos. However, Altitude Sports, in an oddly insensitive move, did not televise the moment. Explain to me how the Blues can show more class than the ownership team of the Avalanche. Is not Altitude sports owned by the same people who own the Avalanche? Come on, guys. Really? Did those 60 seconds of watching fans stream into the game really matter more than honoring the passing of a valued former team member? I think not.

3. Both the St. Louis Blues and the Nashville Predators scored against Colorado less than two minutes into the first period. That’s a trend that goes from bad to ugly when one realizes the Avalanche have surrendered the first goal to their opponent in seven of their 11 games to date.

4. The Avalanche stink on the 5-on-3 power plays. Against the Wild, they only managed one shot on the two-man advantage. The power play for the past week needs some serious help as Colorado has only scored once on 17 power play opportunities.

5. Colorado is tied for fifth place in average penalty minutes per game racking up 12.4 minutes in the box per match. Not sure of the statistic for dumb penalties taken at crucial moments but am pretty certain they rank right up there as well. They are tied with the dreaded Detroit Red Wings for seventh place in major penalties earning six majors already. Note the Avalanche have played two fewer games than Detroit.

THE UGLY

1. Normally impressive goaltender Semyon Varlamov keeps moving out of position in net and has allowed 14 goals in his last three starts. Not all the goals allowed are his fault. There have been some defensive lapses and forward turnovers that didn’t help. But he certainly needs to re-group to find his ‘A’ game. Varlamov currently ranks 41st with an .881 save percent and his goals against average of 3.67 is 42nd in the league.

2. Rantanen needed six stitches from taking a puck to the face off a shot by fellow team member Patrick Wiercioch. In the future, please send those type of shots at the likes of Wild players like Matt Dumba or Jared Spurgeon instead of the future powerhouse of the Avalanche organization, ‘k?

3. Colorado has fallen to 29th in NHL scoring having only put 22 pucks in net over their 11 games. Fortunately, they are tied for 11th place in goals allowed so there is hope.

ODD SOCK

On Friday, November 4, the Avalanche put veteran fourth-line center John Mitchell on waivers. He cleared on Saturday, meaning no one claimed him off the waiver wire, and he skated in Saturday’s afternoon contest against the Wild.

No one seems sure of the organization’s intent – were they hoping someone would claim him so the Avalanche could open up $1.8 million in cap space? Are they considering sending him to San Antonio? Does Colorado want flexibility to call up prospects down the road? Is there a trade in the works? Only the shadow knows….Stay tuned to BSN for updates.

WHAT TO WATCH

1. The Colorado Avalanche embark on a rare four-game home stretch starting Tuesday night against the Arizona Coyotes at 7 pm.

2. Keep an eye out on the new “9’s” line – Duchene, MacKinnon, Rantanen – to see if they can ignite some scoring. They should be adjusting to the new line combination and hopefully will take advantage of the home ice to break through the team’s anemic scoring.

3. The John Mitchell situation could also prove interesting in case the Avalanche send him to the Rampage or make a trade.

4. Coach Bednar may decide to stay with the hot goalie this week. If Pickard plays well against the Coyotes, he will likely take a few more starts and Varlamov may be working the backup role until he regains his mojo.