It's not cut-and-dry on what or who is working or not on the Avalanche — it's individual and that's what needs fixing in order for the team to play fluid and win games.
It seems the Colorado Avalanche team is having an identity crisis but it's trying to figure it out. Inconsistency has plagued the team since the start of the season and head coach Jared Bednar said it needs to fix things quickly.
"We've got to do some soul searching as individuals and as a group. I think we'll do that," Bednar said after practice on Sunday. "I know our guys care even though we've been inconsistent in what we need to do to win hockey games. I've addressed it again here now, we'll see how it goes."
The team's 8-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues showcased some of the disconnection between players. But center Ryan Johansen doesn't think it's an issue with the team's confidence.
"As bad as that was, we're doing good things and then we're falling asleep. Just got to stay awake for 60 minutes.
"You've got to do all the little things that set yourself up for success in games. Just the way we're going about our business for 60 minute games right now isn't cutting it, it's not good enough. We know we got it, we know we can get back to where we felt like we were building on something," Johansen said.
The team's systems are how players establish predictability with each other. When part of that broke down in Saturday's game is when mistakes continued to happen — and they weren't all on just one or two players.
"Learn from what happened. See the moments I had, the chances the other team had and kind of figure out where I could have played better and move on," goaltender Alexandar Georgiev said.
When the team failed to play together, the scoresheet showed how its opposition capitalized. There were a number of things that went wrong with the Avs but lacking a general execution on plays was one of the most notable.
"Every team says to work hard but you have to make plays and execute passes — make safe plays, high percentage plays throughout the course of a night to create momentum and have possession," Nathan MacKinnon said. "I just think we're uncomfortable with the puck right now."
Bednar said some players were getting away from the structure and work ethic of the team which contributed to its demise on Saturday night.
"I like to give the players that are in the lineup that weren't at their best to get an opportunity to play and prove that they can do better," he said. "The frustrating part for me as a coach, I'll just say, it's not that we played poorly — it's that I know we've got more in us than even what we've shown."
While the majority of the team worked hard at practice on Sunday, some players were missing due to injury or needing treatment. The organization sent Riley Tufte back to the Colorado Eagles and called up Sam Malinski for Monday night's game in Seattle.
Georgiev is dialed into his responsibility despite who is playing around him. The lineup may continue to change with Bednar finding the right combinations but the 27-year-old netminder isn't concerned with his team.
"Everybody has their job and I trust my teammates. I think we're a very good team. We had a great win streak at the start of the season," he said. "We just have to focus on each other, on our own game, not look too much into what the other guy is doing and we'll have success as a team."
Colorado needs to turn the page, move on and be mentally prepared for Monday's game against the Kraken. The Avs lost 4-3 last week to Seattle at Ball Arena but won the first game on Oct. 17 at Climate Pledge Arena. This will be the final matchup between the teams for the regular season.