78 Games to Go

This can be fixed. This really can.

This was the third game of the Colorado Avalanche's homestand, and so far, home ice hasn't cured our ills. We're still undermanned, we're still shaky, and we are still in unfamiliar negative territory. Nevertheless, we attempt to persevere. The Avs were visited by the Boston Bruins, and it was still Alexandar Georgiev in net against Joonas Korpisalo. The game was actually quiet, and trust me, we did need some quiet. It was still scoreless halfway through the opening frame, but Cole Koepke changed that in the 14th minute.

The assists came from Andrew Peeke and Nikita Zadorov, but right afterwards, the Avs went on the power play, and that resulted in Ross Colton tying it up. Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar with the assists, and the game was tied. Right afterwards, Boston had their own PP, and Charlie Coyle capitalized and gave Boston their lead back. So it was 2-1 Bruins after 20 minutes.

The second period also started quite quietly, but Rantanen was somehow called for interference. Boston power play collected, and of course, it was David Pastrnak. 13 seconds later, Hampus Lindholm makes it 4-1. Oh boy. We receive a fight later on, and Zadorov ends up with an additional two minutes for slashing. Power play for the Avs, and it results in Cale Makar getting his first of the season to cut our deficit to two. The score was 4-2 Boston after 40 minutes. We had an outside chance to get out of this, and early in the third period, Mikko Rantanen cut our deficit in half. Makar and Nathan MacKinnon assisted, and that made three-point nights for Makar and Rantanen. Avs pressed for the tie but no go. Georgiev was pulled for the extra attacker, but all that did was allow Johnny Beecher to put in the empty net.

The Colorado Avalanche are 0-4. Those are words I never thought would be formed together. To find out the last time we had such a start, you have to go all the way back to the 1998-99 season. That's a year I remember well. I was in 8th grade and I had an NHL Yearbook at that time. It was the year that the Nashville Predators debuted in the league, and that lead to the divisions being realigned. The Avalanche were in the newly formed Northwest Division with the Vancouver Canucks, the Edmonton Oilers, and the Calgary Flames. And yes, the Avs did start 0-4 that year. I also remember how that year ended: one win short of reaching the Stanley Cup Final.

So yes, an 0-4 start is not the end of the world. 78 games remain. There is still plenty of time to right this ship. This is mainly caused by having too many injuries, and Georgiev's groove hasn't been found quite yet, but it will be. We will get back on track. 78 games is a lot. We'll get the boys back soon, but for now, we just had to give it the old college try and take this one game at a time. Let's see if we can at least salvage the month of October.

The Avalanche's homestand concludes on Friday against the Anaheim Ducks, and after that, it's a three-game road trip in San Jose (Sunday), Seattle (Tuesday), and our first trip to Salt Lake City (October 24).

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