The Colorado Avalanche are one of the NHL's best teams of late, but in a feisty Central Division, the Avs are going to need to be more consistent this season.
If the Colorado Avalanche are to come out of this year's Central Division with home-ice advantage -- certainly possible, given the Avs are currently only three standings points behind the second-place-in-the-Central Minnesota Wild -- they have to be more consistent, rather than the huge swing-of-the-spectrum team that Colorado was in the first half of the season.
To be sure -- the Avalanche stumbled out of the gate to a 14-13-0 record. That was in early-December. But since then, the Avs have found their stride, going 12-3-1 since Dec. 3. And that includes a current streak of eight wins in their past 10 games. In those eight wins, Colorado has outscored its opponents 37-16. We wouldn't say they're flat-out maurading their way through the Central at the moment, but the Avalanche are definitely flexing on the rest of the league, and making the Central race a fascinating thing to keep an eye on.
As we've seen, starting goalie Mackenzie Blackwood has performed to expectations, even if we remain skeptical about the length of his contract extension. That said, you can't say he's not bringing it when it comes to his record since being acquired from San Jose on Dec. 9: One regulation loss and one overtime loss for Blackwood, and otherwise, nine wins. That's impressive indeed. And even if his win totals dip a bit, he's still likely to give enough defensive support for the Avalanche's powerful offense to push through and take over.
Even if everything goes right, Colorado can and probably will still be challenged by the other teams in the Central, if not for playoff seeding, then for a playoff spot outright. The Winnipeg Jets are fantastic, if not a proven playoff winner. The Wild are beating their opponents lately with oodles of offense (and there's a sentence that feels like it's never been written before). The Dallas Stars have never looked better this season than they look right now.
You see where we're going with this, right? The Avalanche need to dominate the Central standings more times in the coming weeks, or it's possible they'll be fighting for their playoff lives at the end of the regular season. The other Central teams are going to push them to the limit, and if the Avs fail, it may not be because they're a bad tea. Clearly, they're a good team. But how good -- that's the question.
Let's not be too down on the Avs, though. They've got a superb star player in Nathan MacKinnon, a superstar player in Mikko Rantanen, an-already-iconic blueliner in Cale Makar, and another solid D-man in Devon Toews. Many teams would give up prospects and draft picks galore for just one of those four stars. Colorado has generational players and decent depth, but it will be intriguing to see what GM Chris MacFarland has up his sleeve before the NHL's March 7 trade deadline.
Until then, and after then, for that matter, it's all about balance for the Avs. They need to be consistent, and they need to be resilient. They don't have to be perfect every night, but in one of the tougher divisions in the league, they do have to be very good most nights. And time will tell if Colorado's blueprint for success pays off with another long post-season run and maybe, just maybe, a Stanley Cup as well.
