For the second time this January, the Colorado Avalanche have played in another 11-game stretch. But it’s been a sad couple of weeks for Avs fans.

Colorado had probably its worst stretch of the season now. In the last 11 games, they’ve gone a measly 4–5–2, which was taken up mostly by a season-long seven-game home stand.

The Good

The Avs achieved beneficial results throughout this recent phase. Brock Nelson has been a shining light, with 14 points in the last 11 games (10g/4a). It included his first hat trick with the Avalanche in a great win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.


Nelson has been one of the highest scorers in the last month, and continues to prove why he’ll be going to the Olympics in a week’s time. Sam Malinski has also been solid on the blue line in an elevated role, which earned him a new four-year contract extension.

Some solid performances in this stretch came against the aforementioned Leafs and a shutout with good depth performances against the Columbus Blue Jackets. They also had a dominant win in another crazy game against the Ottawa Senators at home.

The Bad

Unfortunately, that’s about all the good there’s been. The power play is still here, going a sad 4–for–31 in the last 11 games. They sit at 15.7% and are 29th overall in the league.

It’s been abysmal as of late and has not helped Colorado’s chances. On Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens, they didn’t score on the PP but gave up their league-worst ninth shorthanded goal.

Especially with some ugly performances mixed in, it’s become more of a detriment than something to build on. More on that later.

More bad things have been the injuries. Gabriel Landeskog has still not returned, nor has Devon Toews. In fact, Colorado traded away Toews’ replacement, Ilya Solovyov, for Valtteri Puustinen and a draft pick from the Pittsburgh Penguins. For the time being, they’re simply relying on AHL defenders like Jack Ahcan and Keaton Middleton, which hasn’t been great.

Ross Colton suffered a minor injury and then contributed to the score against the Habs. Meanwhile, Logan O’Connor has disappeared off the face of the Earth. It’s sad to say, but at this point, he may not return this season.

The ugly

Surprisingly, it’s been some pretty sad and ugly games ending up in this section. Performances have been subpar, particularly during their long home stand.

Included in that are games against the Nashville Predators, Anaheim Ducks, and Philadelphia Flyers. Even after hitting the road, their last two games against the Senators and Canadiens were not very good.

Granted, the latter two games were back-to-back, but that isn’t an excuse. The drop-off was bound to happen eventually, and it’s hitting hard now.

However, it’s very good that it’s happening now and not in the postseason. Still with enough of a buffer, Colorado is still in a decent spot atop the NHL.

Up Next

Colorado’s next 10 games are a bit weird and basically split up in half. They have a home-and-home with the Detroit Red Wings starting on Saturday, before hosting the San Jose Sharks heading into the Olympic Break. They then return to action with a slew of games against Western Conference opponents.