A 3-1 record is a real solid road trip, but the Avalanche might want to throw this final game out the window. Colorado was dominated from start to finish by the Tampa Bay Lightning on its way to an 8-2 loss. Here are three takeaways from the drubbing.
No Drouin
Just when it seemed like the Avalanche were healthy and hitting their stride, they got some unfortunate news 30 minutes before puck drop - Jonathan Drouin would not be playing.
The Avalanche announced he would miss the game due to an upper-body injury. Keep in mind that Drouin returned just 10 days ago from an upper-body injury that kept him out of the lineup for over a month. No update was provided on the winger after the game, so it's unclear if this is a new injury or the one he was previously dealing with.
With no Drouin, the staff decided to change up every line, which didn't lead to much offense. Colorado's top players were particularly quiet, although they weren't alone.
Annunen gets yanked early
After back-to-back strong games from Alexandar Georgiev, Jared Bednar decided to give him a night off. That night off lasted about 10 minutes.
For the second time in his last three starts, Justus Annunen was pulled after giving up three goals on just six shots. The first one wasn't really on him, but the second was quite ugly, as he allowed a shot to just squeak through his legs. It was a similar goal to one he's given up a few times this season, so teams might have a scouting report on his five-hole. After he was slow getting over to stop a Nikita Kucherov one-timer, Bednar decided to pull him, although that didn't exactly spark the team.
For some reason the Avalanche struggle to have both of their goalies playing well at the same time this season. Bednar did put Annunen back in for the third period and it didn't go a whole lot better.
Tough night to be a stick
Colorado really didn't have an answer for what the Lightning were doing, and decided to take their frustrations out on their sticks.
At the end of the first, Miles Wood shattered his stick heading into the locker room, and the blade of the stick ricocheted back and appeared to hit Bednar in the head. Probably not wise to shatter your stick with your head coach a few feet away.
After giving up the sixth goal, which wasn't really his fault, Georgiev broke his stick on the net and then chucked it into the glass. Georgiev has broken many sticks in his Avalanche career, so seeing that wasn't really a surprise.
Avalanche 2, Lightning 8
What happened: The Lightning stomped on the throats of the Avalanche early with five goals in the opening period.
What went right: With no Drouin, Ivan Ivan got moved up the lineup and responded after struggling a bit of late. He scored a goal early in the game just by crashing the net and was rewarded in the third by simply shooting the puck. Ivan had slowed down a bit of late and took advantage of the opportunity to play up the lineup.
What went wrong: Is it too easy to say everything else? Let's go with everything else. It was just a bad game all around from the Avalanche and their goaltenders didn't do anything to stop the bleeding.
Avalanche goal scorers: Ivan (4,5)
Lightning goal scorers: Perbix (2), Guentzel (8,9), Kucherov (12), Glendening (1), Cirelli (9), Point (12), Eyssimont (1)
Between the pipes: The numbers aren't pretty. Annunen stopped just 11 of the 16 shots he faced, while Georgiev made 14 saves on 17 shots.
What's next: Colorado returns home for one game, as they'll host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday at 8 p.m.
