A Peck of Trouble

Black Friday was not kind to the Colorado Avalanche, as we were soundly defeated in Dallas. Right after the game and heading into this next one, we made a surprise trade with the Nashville Predators. The deal? We shipped off Justus Annunen to the Preds in exchange for Scott Wedgewood, who I have seen quite a bit with the New Jersey Devils. So the Preds now have double the Juice in net, and we have a veteran to back up Alexandar Georgiev.

As for Game #25 of our season, for the first time this season, we're facing off against the Edmonton Oilers, the defending West champions. It's always interesting when Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid clash, and of course, it's been turned up ever since that Western Conference Final meeting in 2022.

The aforementioned Alexandar Georgiev was in net against Stuart Skinner in this matchup. Game was quiet until Mattias Janmark committed goalie interference. Avs' first power play resulted in a goal, and it was Nikolai Kovalenko; fourth of the season. So we struck first, but minutes later, Kasperi Kapanen tied it up at one. That's how the period ended. The second period saw the Oilers on the power play early, that was killed off. We were trying to get something going, but we couldn't, even though it looked like we were closing in on taking the lead back. Instead of us regaining the lead, it would be the Oilers with the advantage--Vasily Podkolzin made it 2-1 for the Oilers, and that would be the only goal in the frame.

Oilers led 2-1 after 40 minutes, and I was really looking for us to tie it up. Unfortunately, Brett Kulak had other plans, like making it 3-1. After doing that, Skinner was in the zone, not letting in anything. Georgiev was pulled for the extra attacker, but all that did was allow Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ice it with an empty netter.

We are 25 games in, and the Avalanche are behind the playoff line. It's concerning, but not fully concerning; this team will be part of the NHL's Sweet 16, but even so, look at the results. October saw us struggle with injuries and all else, but in November, those guys were back. Despite that positive, the Avs are 13-12 and again, we are behind the playoff line. Now it's easy to say that it's a long season, but here's the thing: starts like this can make seasons short.

It's been said like a broken record that goaltending is an issue, but let's get one thing straight: we didn't have a Vasilevskiy or Shesterkin or Hellebuyck two years ago, and look what happened. Hell, we beat Vasilevskiy to win that Cup! Is good goaltending important? Hell yes. Can it get you a Cup? Hell yes. However, the unpredictability of hockey can change a lot of narratives. Darcy Kuemper is definitely not on the level of any of those goalies I mentioned, let's make that clear. Yet he has a Cup while two of the hallowed goalies I named haven't even been to the Final, and he outdueled Vasilevskiy to win that Cup.

What I'm saying is that the Avs will be fine. The season's now a tad shorter than before, but still, 57 games is a lot of time to figure things out.

Up next for the Avs is a five game Eastern road trip. The destinations: Buffalo (Tuesday), Raleigh (Thursday), Detroit (Saturday), New Jersey (Sunday), and Pittsburgh (next Tuesday). If we win that road trip, I dare say the rest of our season will be quite smooth.

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