DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche are, in several respects, an enigmatic team.

They’ve now had two separate opportunities to clinch the Central Division on their own terms, and both have slipped away.

Had the Avs defeated the Vancouver Canucks on April 1st at home, they would have had the chance to secure the division title with a win over their primary rival, the Dallas Stars, on the road. The stage was perfectly set: the NHL’s top team facing one of the league’s lowest-performing clubs. Instead, the night turned into something far less predictable, as Colorado found itself on the wrong end of an 8–6 result that echoed the feel of a classic upset on ice.

They answered with a strong outing against Dallas to regain momentum and reinsert themselves into position, creating a similar opportunity just days later. This time against the St. Louis Blues—a team they had handled comfortably earlier in the season—the division title again felt within reach. Yet once more, the Avalanche came up short, falling 3–2 in a game that followed a familiar pattern.

The same issues that have surfaced intermittently throughout the season showed themselves again: bad passes, turnovers through the neutral zone, breakdowns that led to odd-man rushes, and moments where defensive structure simply wasn’t tight enough to protect the goaltender.

Mackenzie Blackwood did his part, delivering several important saves to keep the game competitive. One of the goals against may have been preventable, but without his performance—and without timely defensive plays from players like Brock Nelson and Josh Manson—the scoreline could have easily tilted much further out of reach. Instead, the Avalanche were left in a game that remained within striking distance, but still slipped away.

It’s easy to point to injuries as the explanation. Cale Makar is unavailable. Nic Roy is sidelined. Valeri Nichushkin is dealing with an injury following a heavy hit from Dallas defenseman Lian Bichsel. Those absences matter—there’s no question about that.

But they don’t tell the full story.

This is a team that, even without Makar and Roy, managed to shut out Dallas on Saturday. That alone undercuts the idea that injuries are the defining issue. At some point, the responsibility shifts inward. Availability matters, but execution matters more.

Nearly three weeks ago, The Hockey News highlighted the structural flaws in this group and how they tend to surface against elite competition. What we’re seeing now, though, is a slightly different—and arguably more puzzling—trend. The Avalanche aren’t necessarily being exposed by the league’s best. Instead, they’re occasionally struggling to impose themselves on teams they’re expected to handle.

Over their last 10 games, Colorado sits at 6–3–1. Solid, but not dominant. Zoom in further, and the picture becomes sharper: 1–5–1 over their last seven home games. That’s not the kind of form a contender wants heading into the final stretch of the season.

And then there’s the start.

That blistering 31–2–7 run through the first 40 games set a standard that’s difficult to maintain—but also difficult to ignore. Since then, the Avalanche have gone 19–14–3. It’s not poor hockey by any means, but it’s a noticeable step down from the level they established early on, especially given the talent in this lineup.

The playoffs are right around the corner, and this is the point where habits start to matter more than reputation. The margin for error shrinks. The pace tightens. The details become everything.

Right now, the Avalanche don’t look like the overwhelmingly dominant force they were at the halfway mark of the season. That doesn’t mean they aren’t capable—it simply means the consistency hasn’t been fully there.

If there’s a silver lining, it’s that this is still correctable. But the window to clean things up is narrowing.

Now is the time to lock in.

Because whatever has happened in the regular season—good, bad, or somewhere in between—the real battle hasn’t even begun.