The Colorado Avalanche took a point back home with them, but not all two after falling 4–3 to the Utah Mammoth. They fought back in the closing minutes, but did not bring back both points in another divisional loss. Utah gets revenge for its loss back on Opening Night at Ball Arena just under two weeks ago.

Colorado played far from its best game, and it showed against a tough Utah team in front of their home fans, where they are undefeated. They still have not lost in regulation and will look for a quick rebound on the other side of the Rocky Mountains.

Observations From the Mountaintop

Scott Wedgewood continued his phenomenal start to the season. He was part of the action from the get-go, keeping Utah from pulling away in Tuesday night’s affair. He made a few crucial stops on the likes of Nick Schmaltz and Lawson Crouse during critical times. While he took the loss, he stepped up with a 29-save performance.

The Avalanche took the lead thanks to a laser shot from Cale Makar, all thanks to hard work down low by Zakhar Bardakov for his first career NHL point. They looked to continue their offensive prowess when Gabriel Landeskog seemingly scored his first regular-season goal in over three years. But it would be called back for offside controversially. From there, the Avs didn’t have their swagger as they had in recent performances.

The second period in particular, is where they had issues. Several turnovers and puck issues led to all three of Utah’s goals – including one goal of their own – which was disallowed. The middle frame has been Colorado’s specialty as of late, leading to a great conclusion in the third period. However, it was arguably the Avalanche’s worst period of the season.

Jack Drury got the game-tying goal just 1:10 into the third, thanks to a great pass from Ross Colton. But they couldn’t respond when Utah got ahead with Mikhail Sergachev’s first goal of the season. With the Avs down and out, Martin Necas delivered with Wedgewood coming to the bench with a great tight-angle shot. It forced OT and at least took a point before Dylan Guenther scored the winner just seconds into the extra frame.

The Mammoth win their fourth straight game at home and remain undefeated at the Delta Center. Meanwhile, Colorado still has not lost in regulation. However, after a tough result such as this one, Jared Bednar and his staff will have to see how his squad reacts heading into the next matchup and how they can best move on.

Up Next

The next matchup comes at home against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. Altitude TV will broadcast a classic throwback matchup, with the Canes wearing their Hartford Whalers jerseys. Meanwhile, the Avs debut their “new” Quebec Nordiques heritage jerseys.