If the Colorado Avalanche are anything, they are entertaining - in a watching a scary movie alone in the dark kind of way.
The injury-riddled Avs jumped ahead 2-0 in the second period against the Blue Jackets on Wednesday night before the wheels fell off, got put back on, and fell off again.
Colorado allowed four unanswered goals and needed a pair of goals with the goalie pulled to claw back into the game and steal at least a point. Down 4-2 in the third, Colorado got goals from J.T. Compher and Bowen Byram, his second of the game, to tie the game and force overtime.
Logan O'Connor also scored for the Avs. His first of the season.
So close, yet so far.
Jackets defender Jake Bean's second goal of the game sealed the Avs fate with an OT snipe and the rest is history.
The game was a microcosm of the season in general for the Avalanche. Great one minute, average the next, and downright sloppy the rest. I guess when you're missing a good chunk of your core a point is a point and it is better than nothing.
Colorado's next game is against these same Blue Jackets in Columbus on Saturday and then they are off until next Thursday.
The upcoming light schedule should be used as a reset button for this group because they need it. This is a great team when healthy. Still, at some point, the excuses have to stop.
Despite all the early-season ups and downs Sports Illustrated still has Colorado as the Stanley Cup Favorites. I know. I'm kinda surprised too.
Per SI:
Colorado Avalanche +550
The Avs remain the favorite even though they sit fifth in the Central, already four points behind the first-place Blues. I would be confident with the Avs if they had better goaltending; Kuemper has a .904 Sv% and -2.1 GSAA according to hockey-reference.com’s model. We also still don’t know if this team has any reliable depth beyond their top line, though the upside of a Cale Makar-Bowen Byram pairing could potentially provide an offset. This is hockey, and being the favorite rarely leads to a storybook ending.
The Good:
- Contract year Nazem Kadri had three more assists in the game. Kadri now has nine points (3g 6a) in the first nine games. It's his best offensive start in years.
- Bowen Byram is a beast. The rookie defense has three goals and eight points already proving he's everything we were told he was.
- J.T. Compher leads the team with five goals in nine games. At this pace, he will surpass his previous career-high of 16 goals by the New Year. :)
The Bad:
- The power play is still struggling. Head Coach Jared Bednar pointed that out after the game. The team ranks 28th in the league with an 11.8% success rate. Injuries aren't helping... blah, blah, blah
- Colorado is averaging three goals per game. Pretty good right? Not when you're allowing 3.56 goals against. The Avs rank 30th in goals against and if they can't get that fixed forget about expectations. Reality will smack them in the face.
- The goaltending has been bad. The team save-percentage of just .901 to start the season. Not what I thought we'd be getting with a guy like Darcy Kuemper between the pipes.
Thanks for reading,
Steve
Colorado Avalanche Blogger • 
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