The Colorado Avalanche will once again look to rebound amidst a middling month-long stretch when they visit the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
The Avalanche entered Wednesday holding the Western Conference’s first wild-card spot and sat only two points behind the injury-ravaged Minnesota Wild for third place in the Central Division, but have been consistently inconsistent for a long stretch.
With a 3-0 loss at the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, the Avalanche are in a 6-7-1 spell.
Adding to the frustration is how Colorado, which went into the game having collected two consecutive shutout victories, failed to mount anything resembling a comeback in a game that was 1-0 heading into the third period.
The Avalanche mustered only four shots in the third period, although being short-handed four times in the frame was a factor.
“It’s disappointing,” coach Jared Bednar said. “For me, this is a borderline playoff game in February, right? And I just didn’t like the way we competed in order to win the game. We played a smart hockey game for the most part. We did some good things, but like in the trenches, we weren’t hard enough.”
Certainly it would have been a different story had the Avalanche scored each time instead of ringing shots off the post on three occasions in the first period, but it was not the way to kick off a stretch of five consecutive road games split by the coming 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.
“There were sparks, shifts where we did (generate opportunities), … but the consistency right now is just not there,” defenseman Cale Makar said. “We just can’t string a couple games together lately, and it’s unfortunate.”
The Flames, who entered Wednesday in the West’s second wild-card position, are also looking to rebound after a disappointing 6-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, the first clash in a three-game homestand.
Calgary, which has lost four of six games, scored first in an affair that was tied 2-all at the midway point.
Penalties and turnovers were the culprits, as the Flames surrendered a pair of power-play goals and were victimized on three of Toronto’s odd-man rushes. Fatigue may have been a factor, but the Flames were guilty of trying to trade chances with the more talented Maple Leafs, and the result was a slew of ill-timed turnovers.
“We forced offense and we got ourselves into trouble because of that,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. “I think there’s a little bit of feeling the pressure to win, guys want to do whatever they can to help the team to win, and typically when you get in those situations you just want to trust your game, and if you play the 2-2 game until you have to until the last minute of the third period, so be it, because that’s our game.”
On the positive, the Flames scored multiple power-play goals in consecutive games for the first time this season — and are 10-for-28 in the past nine outings — and newcomer Joel Farabee netted his first goal since being acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers.
“Winning’s way more important, but it definitely feels good to get the first one out of the way, even though it took a couple tries,” said Farabee, alluding to a first-period overturned goal. “At the end of the day, I’d rather never score and win every game than score and lose.”
–Field Level Media
