SUNRISE, Fla. — The Colorado Avalanche lost their mojo during an extended break in conjunction with the All-Star game. They look like they need another one to find it.
The Avs lost their fourth consecutive game Saturday night, now their longest skid of the season. This one, a 4-0 defeat by the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena, looked a little different than the first three.
It was bad enough that the team held a brief impromptu players-only meeting after the game.
“I just think the standard is so high here and we’ve lost four in a row,” veteran Andrew Cogliano said about the meeting. “It’s simple as that. It’s not good enough. It seems like parts of our game every night are hindering us and leading to losses.
“I think it doesn’t really matter who plays in the lineup here. Our structure and our team play and our coaching is I think the best in the league. When we execute the team game, we give ourselves a really good chance to win. I thought tonight, we didn’t do that.”
Colorado played well for parts of the first period, but some turnovers and two missed coverages left the Avalanche behind by two goals. The Avs got steamrolled in the second in stunning fashion, and coach Jared Bednar liked the effort and execution in the third even less.
The Panthers had 42 shot attempts, 24 shots on goal and were credited with 21 scoring chances during the second period, all at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick. Colorado has allowed 20 scoring chances or fewer at 5-on-5 in 29 of the first 52 games this season.
Alexandar Georgiev, whose play on this road trip has been emblematic of his season — some really good, some not so good — was spectacular in the period despite facing an all-out shooting gallery. When Eetu Luostarinen beat Ryan Johansen to a rebound for the Panthers’ lone goal late in the period, Georgiev slammed his stick on the ice and then backhanded the puck out of his net in anger.
“I thought that they were more competitive, heavier, more dialed in. We’ve gotta go back to the drawing board,” Bednar said. “Make sure they’ve got the details they need in order to have success, and then we’ve have to get a little ornery and angry. I felt like we kind of went the other way tonight, like maybe feeling a little sorry for ourselves instead of digging in and getting to work.”
The first period was a perfect example of a team stuck in a deep hole and trying to use a shovel to get out. For portions of the period, the Avs looked like the Avs — dictating play, creating great chances, but Sergei Bobrovsky had all the answers.
Colorado had an early power play, and didn’t score for the 13th consecutive time with the man advantage since the break, but could not score. It looked better than the previous 12, but the streak of futility continued.
At the other end, the Panthers had two opportunities with the power play and converted both. Carter Verhaeghe had two chances at a tap-in after being wide open near the left post and got it right the second time, and Sam Reinhart’s mishit one-timer from between the hash marks had just enough loft on it to beat Georgiev over his shoulder.
Aleksander Barkov’s goal made it 4-0 midway through the third period. It came shortly after a turnover and not long after Nathan MacKinnon left the ice after falling face-first onto it near the side of the Florida net. The Avs managed to add insult and injury during the sequence, and it summed up the night pretty well.
“There’s no doubt guys are working in here. I don’t think that’s the issue,” Cale Makar said. “It’s just maybe sometimes not working in the right areas.
“We’ve got a lot of good individuals in here that are able to identify the strengths and weaknesses. It’s just going to take a couple days here to hopefully reconnect with themselves. … I’ve never really had this in my five years here.”
Bednar said MacKinnon had a cut on his chin and was getting worked on during the last minutes of the game, but didn’t have an update beyond that.
Colorado has two days off before it plays again in Washington, D.C. The Avs will take Sunday off, practice Monday in South Florida and head for the nation’s capital. They’ll hope that a couple more days in the warm weather help them find the version of themselves that looked ready for a run at the Stanley Cup two weeks ago.
“I think now it’s about finding solutions,” Cogliano said. “It’s not the time of year to start looking around and pointing fingers, or wondering who’s going to do what. I think you’ve got to individually look at yourself and be better, then collectively come together as a team.”
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