Avalanche perspective with Brock Nelson and Jaden Schwartz

The Colorado Avalanche kicked off their season with a victory, but it was not exactly an exhibition of flawless hockey. There was sloppy play at times, but the team’s season isn’t being measured by Game 1.

“Nice to get the win; I think there’s areas you can clean up. By no means was it a perfect game, and some defensive areas and some neutral zone and transition plays that you’d like to clean up and eliminate,” Brock Nelson said. “And I thought Blacky (Mackenzie Blackwood) played extremely well, saved a couple really, really good grade A’s to keep us ahead. Special teams, obviously, a big night, and that’s going to be crucial.”

The second power-play unit had better success than the first, with one goal from Nelson and two from Artturi Lehkonen.

“Having that second unit do what they did last night helps. Gives the first unit some time to sort of find it. The first unit did some good things as well,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “We want to have options at every position there. You got to play guys to their strengths and in the positions where they’re the strongest. A lot of factors go into those decisions. But it’s really important if you’re going to have a really good power play that you have guys that can fill in and get the job done. So I like our depth in that situation right now.”

While starting the season down two forwards (Logan O’Connor and Zachary L’Heureux) isn’t ideal, the Avs managed to get two points with the 11/7 format.

“Just got to be aware of different matchups and guys going on at different times …,” Jaden Schwartz said. “Just got to pay attention. We’ll see as the year goes. It might happen again. So good to get used to it right away. But hopefully, we get some other guys back here too.”

Jaden Schwartz earns 2 points in his regular-season Avalanche debut

Opening the season at home has its advantages for all players, but it can be a bit more intimidating to new players.

In his 15th NHL season, Schwartz still gets nervous on opening night. Having played with only two other teams (St. Louis Blues and Seattle Kraken) that frequently faced the Avalanche, he understood the energy in Ball Arena. But now he’s on the other side.

“It was fun. Obviously, it’s exciting. A little nervous to start — new team and new season and new teammates and stuff,” Schwartz said. “But yeah, it was a lot of fun. The atmosphere was pretty good, loud in there.”

The 34-year-old assisted on Nelson’s power-play goal and Nicolas Roy’s even-strength goal. He is comfortable on PP2 but knows things may change throughout the season.

“We’ve been pretty good in practice finding a little bit of chemistry when you can, take advantage of the time we have. First game, it went well, but it’s a quick turnaround here,” Schwartz said. “Throughout the season, you’re going to have ups and downs a little bit, especially on special teams. But obviously it’s a good start; keep building.”

The veteran forward started on the third line with Fedor Svechkov at center and T.J. Hughes on the right. There were shifts throughout the night with the 11/7 format. But he was effective where needed, as he has played in the past.

“He was good in the structure of the game, and he’s really strong and possesses the puck well along the boards, around the net. The strength of his game in one-on-ones, being able to challenge guys on the offensive side of it, get to the right areas and playing hard in the dirty areas like that …,” Bednar said. “Some of those things that he’s always been good at, they showed up last night.”

The Avalanche face off against the team Schwartz won a Stanley Cup with in 2019 on Saturday at Ball Arena. Bednar said L’Heureux may be able to play, so Game 2 should look quite different than Game 1.