The Colorado Avalanche game a valiant effort against one of the best teams in the NHL, but a late power play goal proved to be fatal as the Tampa Bay Lightning came away with the 1-0 victory. Here are five takeaways from Wednesday night’s performance.
- The Avalanche have a secondary scoring problem, and in games like this, it is very obvious. The team only generated 26 shot attempts in roughly 45 minutes of sven strength hockey, and a handful of those came late when Tampa Bay was sitting back. MacKinnon’s line had some chances, but beyond that, it’s a struggle right now.
- On the flip side, the Avs played quite well defensively against a potent Tampa team. They only gave up three high danger chances, and generally kept the shot attempts down. Varlamov did not have to be spectacular like he has in some recent games.
- Tyson Jost is struggling offensively, and the Avs are kind of stuck in a pickle here. The club has demoted him to the fourth line because he is not creating scoring opportunities, but now they are kind of stuck with a young player that is losing confidence by the game. A game in the press box to just reset wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. He has no even strength points this year, and only registered one even strength shot attempt tonight.
- The other Tyson, Mr. Barrie, is also off to a slow start. Usually a guy who generates a lot of shots, Barrie registered only one attempt at even strength tonight and the team and it’s been a trend this year for the Avs to be very low event offensively with Barrie on the ice. That’s unusual. The team has not received a goal from a defenseman yet, and Barrie is the most likely guy to change that.
- Overall, there is plenty to be encouraged about through the first ten games. The Avs have picked up points in eight of ten matchups, and are in a good position in their ridiculous division. It’s going to be an exciting year in Colorado.
The Avs hit the ice again on Friday night. The home game against the Ottawa Senators begins at 7:30 p.m. MT.
