DENVER — For the second consecutive game, the Avalanche didn’t look good at all. But unlike the previous night, the Avs were unable to come away with a victory on Monday.
Colorado fell 5-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks at Ball Arena, ending the winning streak at five games and falling to 5-5-0 on the season. For most of the night, the Avs look like a team on the second part of a back-to-back. They struggled early and were outplayed for most of the nights by a weaker struggling Blackhawks team. And even when they started to take control in the third period, the opportunities weren’t quite there. The Blackhawks did an excellent job of getting in front of pucks and keeping the Avs from really building momentum.
“We were no good again. We weren’t as good as last night even,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “We just looked tired. Execution was bad, mentally, not sharp, you know. It happens. We looked like we didn’t have any energy, though, right from the drop of the puck.”
Alexandar Georgiev was back in goal for Colorado and, again, didn’t look sharp to start. Chicago had the first two power plays of the evening, and in the closing seconds of the second opportunity, Philipp Kurashev beat Georgiev with a slap shot from above the circle. It didn’t take long for Colorado to respond thanks to Casey Mittelstadt’s sixth of the year. But less than a minute later, Lukas Reichel restored Chicago’s lead.
Ryan Donato added to the lead just over five minutes later before Nathan MacKinnon beat his defenseman wide on the rush and scored to make it 3-2 while Colorado was on a two-man advantage. Five goals, all within 10 minutes.
But those were the only goals until the third period. And despite Colorado’s effort, the only two goals scored the rest of the way were two empty netters for the Blackhawks in the final minute.
“We’re not looking at moral victories here right now,” Bednar said. “It wasn’t our best game. It needed to be better, and it wasn’t, you know, it’s two in a row.”
Colorado also had another massive loss due to injury. Ross Colton blocked a shot with his foot in the first period and tried to limp his way through the rest of the game. He played hurt in the second period before missing the third. Bednar said after the game that Colton would miss time. The team will have a better idea of how long he’ll be out on Wednesday.
Colton left the arena in a walking boot.
Good: Casey Mittelstadt
We’re only 10 games into the season and I’m already struggling to find new ways to compliment Casey Mittelstadt. The Avs’ second-line center was touted as a playmaker when they acquired him. He even mentioned to us several times during training camp that he’s a pass-first guy, often joking that he doesn’t even like to shoot the puck. Either the lack of scoring wingers has led to more goals for the centerman, or perhaps Mittelstadt had been tricking us all along.
The 25-year-old scored Colorado’s first goal, his sixth of the season, to tie things up at 1-1. Through the first 10 games, Mittelstadt has 13 points. And against Chicago, he led the Avalanche with five shots on goal. What’s more impressive is the ways he’s beating goalies. I’m not sure how his career played out in Buffalo but his shot is better than I thought. Kudos to him for the strong start. Truly, Colorado has found its No. 2 center. No question.
Bad: Mikko Rantanen
Speaking of goal scorers, Mikko Rantanen was invisible on Monday. Colorado’s top winger is playing with added pressure right now given the fact that he’s basically the one remaining top-six forward available and because he’s also still without a contract extension. Rantanen looked like he was going to play through all the noise when he had a hat trick on opening night. But in recent games, the opportunities just aren’t there. He’s got just one goal in nine games since.
If it’s a shocker to see Mittelstadt lead the team with five shots, it has to be twice as surprising when you realize that Rantanen finished without a shot on goal in more than 25 minutes of ice time. Along with Cale Makar and MacKinnon, Rantanen was one of three Avs to finish the game with a -4 rating. This is the second straight game that Bednar has commented on his top stars’ poor play. I thought Rantanen specifically would respond better after the Ottawa game. But that wasn’t the case.
