I miss the old Patrick Roy, the one who would show some emotion as a player and, once or twice anyway, as Avalanche coach. No, I'm not expecting him to shove the glass between benches and scream at the opposing coach the way he did on opening night two years ago, or to break a TV the way he did several seasons ago when he was still tending goal.

I'm not expecting him to rant and rave and rip players to shreds when speaking to the media. He isn't going to do that, and I'm pretty sure he isn't all peaches and cream with his players behind closed doors. He does show flashes of anger during practice sessions and the play of this team has to be eating at him inside.

And, I guess I understand that he's trying to stay "positive" with his players ... to a point. But his "we did a lot of good things" mantra after every game (except for the 6-2 mauling by Boston) has gotten old.

Roy did it again Tuesday night following the Avalanche's 4-1 loss to Florida, essentially saying things would have been just fine if the special teams hadn't been such a disaster.

Oh-for-5 on power plays, passing the puck around the perimeter for almost an entire 52-second 5-on-3 advantage, one shorthanded goal allowed. Oh-for-3 killing penalties.

Remember last season's 2-4-2 start, which forced the Avalanche to play catch-up the rest of the way in what turned out to be a futile attempt to make the playoffs? Well, this year's start is even worse at 2-5-1.

They've gone 0-3-1 in the past four games, have back-to-back games Thursday and Friday against Tampa Bay and Carolina to finish this trip, then will play 12 of the next 16 games on the road.

It was more of the same after the Panthers' game.

(Quotes are courtesy of the Panthers communications department)

“They moved the puck well, we had a hard time with their tape-to-tape passes," Roy said of the Panthers power play (ranked 12th in the NHL before the game). "We kept it pretty much outside instead of attacking the net (on the Avalanche power play against the 24th-ranked Florida penalty-killing units). They moved the puck well on their power play and that was the difference in the game."

Fair enough, until ...

"I was pleased with our 5-on-5 game, I thought we managed our game well and did a lot of good things," Roy said. "That’s the way things are going right now. When the power play is clicking it’s the 5-on-5 that’s not doing well. Tonight our 5-on-5 does well and our PK and power play doesn’t. We just need to put everything together, that’s what we’re missing right now.”

Uh, the one goal the Avalanche scored came with 57 seconds left in the third period. When Gabriel Landeskog chipped in a rebound, all it did was prevent Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo from getting a shutout.

As for goaltending, maybe Reto Berra should have stopped Vincent Trocheck's shot late in the first period, but Trocheck had clear sailing into the Avalanche end and skated by flat-footed defenseman Nick Holden before firing the puck in from the right circle.

Roy did acknowledge that much.

"It was a nice shot, and I think we should’ve been better on our forecheck and not let that guy walk in around us," he said.

As for Bryan Campbell's shorthanded goal in the third period, the Avalanche had three players -- Tyson Barrie, Francois Beauchemin and Matt Duchene -- converging on Florida's Derek MacKenzie with the puck in the corner to Berra's left. Yet somehow the puck slid out to Reilly Smith, who passed to Campbell in the slot for a wide-open shot by Berra's glove.

Ugly.

As for the Avalanche's second consecutive slow start to the season (they were already seven points behind Chicago for the second wild card playoff spot before Wednesday's games) ...

"No, it’s not the way we want to start, but the positive is our 5-on-5 was solid," Roy said. "I’d like to think that’s positive and I’d like to think we’re moving in the right direction."

C'mon, Patrick.

Matt Duchene has one goal in eight games, none at even strength. Jarome Iginla has three goals, one at even strength. Erik Johnson has two goals, none at even strength. Barrie, Blake Comeau, Carl Soderberg and Alex Tanguay have yet to score a goal.

After going 4-for-6 on power plays in the first two games, the Avalanche are 3-for-27 in the past six. The penalty killing was effective before Tuesday, ranked fifth in the NHL at 88.9 percent, having permitted just three goals on 27 chances in the first seven games. The Panthers matched that total in one game.

"Now let’s get our power play going," Roy said. "Our penalty kill was really sharp before tonight. I think we were near the top of the league in PK, but unfortunately tonight they scored three and then scored one on our power play. Our power play tonight finished minus one, and our players know that’s not enough for us to win hockey games. They have to be better.

"Last year was a struggle, we had a really good start (on power plays), but we need to simplify things. We need to put pucks at the net and we need to jam the net. We need to be more hungry at the net and that’s how our power play is going to produce.

"Let’s put our game together, be solid one night with the power play, penalty killing and the 5-on-5. It’s funny, when we play well defensively we struggle to score goals, when we score goals, we’re struggling defensively. I just feel like we can’t put everything together on the same night."



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