The Colorado Avalanche have been playing consistently well, yet continue to struggle in one area — the power play. The Avs are 28th in the NHL on the man-advantage. On the flip side, they are No. 1 on the penalty kill.

“It’s been a long work in progress. We just got to find ways to create space for ourselves. We’re putting ourselves in bad spots right now and then they’re clearing it, which is just the advantage of the PK,” Cale Makar said. “We got to find ways to support each other better, and then, from that, find ways to attack and then get secondary chances as well.”

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Head coach Jared Bednar shifted players around on the power play units in the 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday night. Although they did not score in any of the four power plays, Bednar liked the change-up.

“We went with a different look — righty in the middle of the ice on both units, either (Gavin) Brindley or (Martin) Necas. Our power play, (Nathan) MacKinnon and Makar have the freedom to stay and play the full two, depending on their energy level, where we’re playing it …,” Bednar said. “I think it’s a more dangerous setup than what we’ve run previously. And it keeps all six of those guys involved, including Lehky (Artturi Lehkonen).”

Colorado tops the NHL in points due to its consistent even-strength performance, strong depth, and reliable goaltending. Special teams play an important role, but the Avalanche’s are on opposite sides.

“You go through it at certain times every year — one of the two is not working, or one of the two is better than the other. That’s a good internal battle that you want within the team. You don’t want the discrepancy to be so big, right?” Gabriel Landeskog said. “We want a power play that’s in the top 10, top five, and, PK, that’s top 10, top five as well. That’s going to contribute to you winning hockey games more often than not. We know how important special teams are come playoff time.”

MacKinnon leads the team in power-play points with 13, while Makar (10) and Necas (9) round out the top three. Bednar is looking for more production from his PP units and will adjust them if they continue to struggle.

“We were really dangerous in a bunch of different areas, kind of in attack mode, being able to use the low play and bring it to the net,” Bednar said. “That right-hand shot shooter in the middle really helps because he can be a real threat for you, and they have to respect it. If they cover that off, there’s other options that we can use. Good first night with it, liked it today in practice again, so we’ll see where it goes.”

The team is not suffering from its struggling power play percentage (15.3%, 28th in the NHL). It has proven successful even without a man advantage, leading the League with a 1.88 goals for/against ratio in 5-on-5 play.