The Colorado Avalanche’s defensive cracks aren’t new.

They’ve been there all season—small, almost imperceptible at first, masked by a fast-paced offense and by Scott Wedgewood repeatedly bailing the team out. But as the calendar edges toward the final stretch and the league’s elite teams line up on the schedule, those cracks have widened into full-blown chasms.

That said, the Avalanche put together a commendable performance against the Dallas Stars. They showed measurable improvements in several key areas: controlling the puck for the majority of the game, limiting turnovers, and—finally—finding success on the power play, a department that has frustrated fans and analysts alike all season. Cale Makar one-timed a pinpoint pass from Nazem Kadri to give Colorado an early lead.

Unfortunately, despite these bright spots, the Avalanche ultimately fell in a shootout to their division rival, leaving them with a hard-fought but frustrating defeat.

It’s time to set the record straight: injuries, while significant, have been overemphasized in discussions about Colorado’s struggles. Every NHL team deals with them—every single one, even the league’s best. Yet when it comes to the Avalanche, analysis often boils down to a single name: Gabriel Landeskog.

Landeskog is undeniably the heart of this team. But even with him in the lineup, defensive breakdowns, odd-man rushes, and preventable mistakes continued to surface. Early in the season, when Colorado was setting a historic pace—just two regulation losses and a +38 goal differential by January—these issues were easier to overlook. The spotlight was on the team’s dominance, not the structural vulnerabilities lurking underneath.

Those flaws were brutally exposed in a recent 7-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who chased Wedgewood from the game early and scored four of their seven goals in the first period alone. It wasn’t on Wedgewood; he was left out to dry on a large number of those high-danger scoring chances.

The fact of the matter is, as Nathan MacKinnon recently stated, "Sometimes winning can mask some stuff."

On the back end, Colorado has been attempting to adapt. The trade of Samuel Girard to the Penguins for Brett Kulak was intended to stabilize the blue line. While Kulak has largely performed well alongside Sam Malinski on the third pairing, the recent decline in Devon Toews’ play forced head coach Jared Bednar to make adjustments. For the game against Dallas, Toews was moved to the second pairing with Malinski, while the usual second-pairing duo of Brent Burns and Josh Manson shifted to the third line.

Compounding the issues on the blue line, the team’s once-potent offense has begun to falter, leaving the Avalanche grappling with struggles at both ends of the ice.

Jack Drury hasn’t scored in 17 games. Brock Nelson has lingered at 30 goals for 11 contests. Valeri Nichushkin, while showing flashes recently, endured a brutal stretch to start 2026, scoring just once in 20 games. Ross Colton has managed only three goals since Thanksgiving, while younger contributors like Gavin Brindley and Zakhar Bardakov have seen limited ice time—and in those minutes, they’ve contributed little offensively for nearly three months.

Colorado has also leaned heavily on its blue line for secondary scoring, and that source has run unusually dry this season. Sam Malinski hasn’t scored since December 11, and Devon Toews’ offensive output has dropped off sharply, leaving the Avalanche short-handed in a department that once gave them a decisive edge.

Martin Necas and Nathan MacKinnon have carried their weight, of course, but what made the 2022 Stanley Cup team so formidable was its depth. Scoring came from all four lines, creating balance and unpredictability. Lately, Colorado has become a top-heavy squad—and historically, top-heavy teams rarely hoist the Cup. Even the Edmonton Oilers, with all their elite talent, suffered back-to-back Finals losses largely because their defense faltered when facing other elite rosters.

All of these issues have chipped away at Colorado’s once-insurmountable Central Division lead, shrinking it to just two points. Dallas has won eight of their last ten games, while the Avalanche have managed six victories in that span. In a tight race like this, every little detail matters.

The Avalanche have also faced inconsistencies in special teams. Their penalty kill, once among the league’s best, has faltered, while the power play, historically weak, is finally showing sparks. Yet new problems emerge as fast as old ones are addressed.

With the playoffs looming and precious little time remaining, Colorado must reconcile these issues quickly. Injuries are no longer a credible excuse. Landeskog remains vital, as does Logan O’Connor with his penalty-kill prowess—but neither can single-handedly remedy systemic breakdowns.

The Avalanche need cohesion, urgency, and execution. If the lessons leading up to the Olympic break and beyond don’t serve as a wake-up call, the team risks another early postseason exit, regardless of talent.