Something is out of whack for the Colorado Avalanche lately. They lost back-to-back games on the road, but they weren’t blowouts so it’s not full-on panic mode, yet. They had just come off a 10-day break and didn’t quite knock the rust off, and their top four players were exhausted from the 4 Nations tournament.
When you try to put your finger on what the problem is, it’s chemistry. Winning teams have an aura about them — sparks fly every time they hit the ice and they genuinely have fun playing together. The Avs do not have that right now. But it is difficult to generate when they are losing games.
So what’s the solution? Head coach Jared Bednar pointed out that the team was 4-1-0 before the break. The two road losses stung, but one win can make a difference.
“I don’t like changing our lines a lot if we feel like the lines are structured the way we want them. And we’ve seen success out of some of those lines together,” Bednar said. “If they play it a game or two without being productive, we’re going to let it go. We’re going to teach them, coach them and turn them loose again and see if they can improve on some things. But if it runs too long, then I think you got to be open to mixing it up and changing it up a little bit, even if it’s just one player swap, and that changes a couple lines.”
Bednar said his staff is working on lines for the matchup against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday. He would not confirm if Valeri Nichushkin will return to the lineup. There will be line shuffling if he does, but there may be even if he does not.
The Avalanche are 10-9-2 in the last 21 games without Nichushkin. In comparison, they were 9-2-0 with him in the lineup in the 10 games before he was injured.
The team’s cohesion does not lie on one player being in or out of the lineup though. The second, third and fourth lines have been on or off or a combination of both — but not alltogether on at once. Those are the games Colorado has earned two points and dominated opponents.
“Line by line, and D pairing by D pairing, you got to just focus on what you can control. And with that, it’s your individual effort and execution, and try and string your line mates along with you,” Logan O’Connor said. “I don’t think we’re making it easy on ourselves with lack of communication, maybe some lack of energy on the bench recently. So it’s on us to try and just build momentum.”
Avs Communication Issues
O’Connor said players hold each other accountable when their game is off and as part of the leadership group and veteran of the team, he has more responsibility to speak up.
“Confrontation and accountability can always be tough, but it’s on us to hold ourselves to a high standard. I think it starts with yourself personally,” he said. “We’re all mature guys. Guys playing pro hockey for a long time, playing hockey for a long time as well. So everyone knows when they’re not providing enough, and then it’s almost to just carry those guys along in doing so.”
Some players are very vocal while others are quiet which can create an imbalance for the team. But it is an important part of the game for players to communicate productively with each other.
“The communication on the ice is the most important, and certain guys on the bench like to just focus, reset, don’t say a lot,” Bednar said. “But I do think when the conversations that they have when they come off the ice — they didn’t like something, or where were you there on that play and they look at the iPad — those are important, especially to build chemistry, and our guys are pretty good at doing that.”
The Avalanche start their season-long six-game homestand against the Devils in the No. 1 wild card spot in the Western Conference. Every game counts — more and more as it gets closer to playoff time.
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