'There's pretty strong belief that we can come back': Avalanche's mental strength crucial to win games
Colorado has the most comeback wins in the NHL partly due to the team's ability to remain mentally tough even when they are losing.
The goal for the Colorado Avalanche is to play a full 60 minutes against any opponent and they will try to achieve that against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night. The Avs lost 4-3 to the Habs when the teams faced each other on Jan. 15 at the Bell Centre but the team has changed since that defeat.
The Avalanche have won their last nine consecutive games and are looking to extend that streak to double-digits against Montreal.
Head coach Jared Bednar said the team showed great mental toughness to come back from a four-goal deficit and beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 in overtime on Sunday afternoon — a trait the team learned throughout the season. The Avalanche have proven they are resilient and never count themselves out of the game.
"I think even when we fell behind, there's pretty strong belief, you know that we can come back, we can generate a lot of chances in a very short amount of time," Casey Mittelstadt said after morning skate. "So you know, I thought the belief was there and obviously the chances kept coming and eventually started going in and you know, a heck of a play by Dru (Jonathan Drouin) to finish it in overtime."
The ability to battle back and stay in the game is crucial this time of year as the season winds down and the team is gearing up to be ready for the playoffs.
"I think that comes from kind of the belief and the offense of this this team," Brandon Duhaime said. "A lot of super offensive guys and you know if you're down four nothing, those guys know that they can get you know two in a shift, four or five in a period. So super important."
Jonathan Drouin said the bench was pretty calm even being down by four and that is what allowed it to stay in the game, push harder and eventually get the win.
"To be honest, it's those games sometimes where they pot two, three goals and it's just quick and you got to kind of not panic, not overthink it almost, here sometimes it happens," Drouin said. "Sometimes that happens to us where you score three quick ones and you got to stay in the game and follow the game plan. We had planned for the first period if it didn't go well, just got to stay with our game plan and that's the one thing with this team we stay very calm and don't panic."
Projected lineup
Valeri Nichushkin — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Artturi Lehkonen — Casey Mittelstadt — Jonathan Drouin
Miles Wood — Ross Colton — Zach Parise
Brandon Duhaime — Yakov Trenin — Andrew Cogliano
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard — Josh Manson
Jack Johnson — Sean Walker
Justus Annunen
Alexandar Georgiev
The puck drops at 7 p.m. at Ball Arena.
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