No Nathan MacKinnon.
No Artturi Lehkonen.
No Josh Manson, Gabriel Landeskog, Valeri Nichushkin, Bowen Byram, Evan Rodrigues, Darren Helm or Kurtis MacDermid.
The result? An adjustment in style, a lack of offensive punch and an apparent handicap for the AHL Avalanche, getting shut out 4-0 by the NHL-leading Boston Bruins at Ball Arena. The Avs iced a roster that had just five NHL-regular forwards, only one of its top-six and a blueline that’s missing two of its top-four defensemen.
Despite all the odds stacked against them on Wednesday, the message was clear: Nobody is quitting on this. Avs coach Jared Bednar was pleased with the team’s efforts despite being outmatched.
“If we’re rolling over because it’s too difficult or we’re losing games, then we need new players. We’ll have to find other guys,” Bednar said. “We better be playing hard every single night regardless of what we think the outcome is going to be, regardless if we’re winning or losing. That’s a culture we built here. We’re going to continue that regardless and if guys quit and don’t play hard, then we’ll find other players.”
To make matters worse, Bruins fans showed up in droves, leading to nearly every goal sounding like a tally for the home team.
It even led to the Avs’ goal horn going off for a moment after Boston’s third goal. An embarrassing albeit understandable mishap.
Whatever the game plan was to shut down the high-flying Bruins was well-executed in the first period. But the short-lived glimmer of hope for the injury-ravaged Avalanche quickly dissipated in the second. Colorado did all it could but its best was no match for the now 21-win Bruins, who scored twice in each of the final two periods.
“I thought we played hard,” Bednar said. Good effort, good start to the game. Just couldn’t sustain it.”
David Pastrnak broke the scoreless draw at 3:49 of the second period on Boston’s 18th shot against goalie Alexandar Georgiev. It was just the start of a 10-minute stretch where the road team poured it on the Avs, dominating play and eventually building on the lead. Taylor Hall made it 2-0 at 9:50 off a nice feed from Charlie Coyle.
More of the same in the third period. Boston’s Trent Frederic scored at 6:24 and Hall added his second of the night three minutes later.
Colorado was unable to generate much offensively. It needed to capitalize on its minimal chances. When it seemed like the Avalanche had numbers on the rush, the play eventually broke down. And when a good opportunity arose, it was stopped by goalie Linus Ullmark. The Bruins netminder made 23 saves to earn the shutout.
The Avs were also scoreless on four power-play chances.
Early in the second period, Dryden Hunt dropped the gloves with Tomas Nosek. Hunt had laid out Pastrnak which led to the fight. Nosek took the worst of the tussle and ended up with an extra two minutes, giving the Avalanche a power play. It was perhaps the best chance Colorado had to capitalize, especially with the game still without a goal. But the Bruins killed off the penalty and got on the board less than a minute later.
There is no confirmation on when the Avalanche could expect reinforcement. But if morning skate and Bednar’s comments earlier in the day were any sign, then it could be soon.
Valeri Nichushkin, who has missed 17 games, participated in a regular white sweater before the game. He didn’t take any rushes on the power play but the level at which he skated proves he could be back soon. The same goes for Darren Helm, who was still in a non-contact but has progressed well from an injury that has sidelined him all year.
Two other forwards, Evan Rodrigues and Artturi Lehkonen, both skated before the team. Rodrigues is two weeks into a 2-4 week diagnosis. Bednar confirmed his return remains on schedule. And Lehkonen’s injury was announced as day to day on Saturday when he was hurt against these same Bruins.
If all four were to return over the next stretch of games, Colorado would be missing just two forwards — both notable names — in Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon.
The busy month continues with a matchup against the New York Rangers at Ball Arena on Friday.
“I’m gonna expect if this group stays the exact same moving forward for the next one game, two games, five games, I expect us to be the better next game, Bednar said. “We gotta get incrementally better every night. And if the lineup stays the same for two months, we gotta find a way to carve out points.”