Winning on the road was a problem for months. But the issues ailing the Avalanche away from home were repairable. That much was made clear this past week.
The Avs closed out a perfect four-game road trip following a 4-3 triumph in St. Louis on Tuesday, where Colorado leaned on Mikko Rantanen’s seventh career hat trick to secure its seventh straight victory. The team improved to 18-14-5 on the road, using goalies Justus Annunen and Alexandar Georgiev twice, each, to return home with all eight points.
Colorado was among the best teams in the league all year. Despite their depth flaws up front and in the crease, it still managed to ride Nathan MacKinnon’s Hart-Trophy-worthy season all the way through February and into trade deadline week. The wheeling and dealing then began, and the Avs haven’t looked back since.
With the additions of center Casey Mittelstadt, who also scored on Tuesday, and Sean Walker, Brandon Duhaime and Yakov Trenin, the Avalanche finally had the ability to roll four lines. They also welcomed back Valeri Nichushkin from the NHLPA Assistance Program following a nearly two-month absence. All of that came together to give coach Jared Bednar 12 forwards he trusts in all situations, at all times, against any competitor. Even Connor McDavid, who was held off the scoresheet Saturday in the Avs’ nailbiter 3-2 OT victory against the Oilers.
In many ways, depth helps. Overall, Colorado is a stronger team since the additions to the lineup than it was before. But it’s also a reminder that the road team isn’t always set up for success. With home teams getting the last change, and the ability to line match, one-line teams are often left in the dust. Colorado’s top line with MacKinnon and Rantanen is often the target of the opposition’s best shutdown line. Without much in the form of true secondary scoring, it serves as a reminder that the road woes, which at one point saw the Avs win just seven of 24 games, are often a symptom of a team lacking depth.
Mittelstadt and Nichushkin solve the Avalanche’s top-six woes. Combined with Rantanen, MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin and Artturi Lehkonen, Colorado can form two formidable top lines with any combination of wingers on either line. It could no longer get shut down on the road the way they had been so many times to start the year. And with Trenin and Duhaime — and the returning Zach Parise — Bednar’s bottom lines have six viable pieces, too. Even without Logan O’Connor (out for the year), Colorado has more forwards at its disposal than they’ve had since the 2022 Stanley Cup Final.
Joel Kiviranta was a healthy scratch against the Blues. And Nikolai Kovalenko was loaned to the Colorado Eagles to recover from an injury he suffered at the conclusion of his KHL season. The Avs also have Chris Wagner and Fredrik Olofsson — two more respectable pieces — in the AHL ready for call-up when needed.
All that’s to say, the road woes are likely behind this team. And it’s largely because the team has depth, finally, to match lines with any home team’s coach.
Kudos to Chris MacFarland for figuring this out before the playoffs.
Against the Blues, Colorado led 1-0 before needing to mount a comeback of its own. The Avs erased deficits of 2-1 and 3-2 to secure the two points. Rantanen’s tally in the third period eventually served as the game-winner, his eighth of the season. And Annunen was solid in goal, especially late, making 30 saves to increase his personal winning streak to four games.
Colorado plays its next five games at Ball Arena where it is a whopping 26-6-0.