With key players out for long periods to rotating short-term injuries, the Colorado Avalanche have continued to find ways to win games.
DENVER – The Colorado Avalanche are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games and continue to play with a high-intensity level at the end of the regular season.
The team’s chemistry and fluidness have stayed on point, for the most part, even throughout the numerous rotating injuries this season. So how has Colorado managed to continue to find a way? Coach Jared Bednar said his players have conditioned themselves to make it down the stretch and continue to play with a competitive spirit.
“I think it’s just the way our guys take care of themselves. So it just feels like another game. I think they’ve conditioned themselves to a point where back-to-backs aren’t a big deal,” Bednar said after the win against the Anaheim Ducks on March 27. “They do some extra things around here, that’s led by Nate, and a bunch of other guys have followed suit … our guys are doing what they need to do so they feel fresh the next morning. They’re all on the bikes and working out and doing that kind of stuff, and I do think that helps us in the long run.”
MacKinnon focused on staying physically on top of game
Even down the home stretch, forward Nathan MacKinnon said that the team needs to put itself in the best position it can, and conditioning is part of that equation.
“With the schedule being how it is you kind of have to start recovering five minutes after the game ends to kind of get an advantage over other teams,” MacKinnon said. “Everybody on our team is pretty committed to that. It’s not just me, it’s everybody.”
After pulling out a win in overtime against the Arizona Coyotes and then dominating the Ducks on a back-to-back at the end of March, the Avalanche faced two top rivals in the division. It’s a tight race in the Central Division for the Avs and they fell short against the Minnesota Wild but persevered against the Dallas Stars.
“Everyone kind of has the same goal – win the division, trying to win the conference, trying to win the league,” Bednar said. “And to a certain extent you keep those goals in mind throughout the course of the year, and now here you are, under 10 games to go and you’re trying to still accomplish those goals, it’s just about being a competitor.”
The team continues to compete every night and that execution has paid off in the standings. As of late, it has been mostly coming from the top line with Mikko Rantanen and MacKinnon notching seven points each in the last five games.
Rantanen has ramped up his game
Rantanen’s play has elevated since he was drafted by Colorado in 2015 and Bednar said he’s become more involved in the defensive zone as he’s improved over the last five years. Bednar attributed Rantanen’s success to his confidence in his play and increase in maturity with the game and his linemate MacKinnon.
“He feels confident enough in his game and who he is as a player now that he doesn’t just defer to Mack (MacKinnon),” Bednar said about Rantanen. “If he has open shots, he’s going to take them. It makes them both even more dangerous, in my opinion.”
The duo has certainly proved dangerous, and not just in the last few games. They have stepped up their game minus their left-wing linemate Gabriel Landeskog all season. Just think of how much more they’ll ramp up once he returns.