• Powered by Roundtable
    Colleen Flynn
    Colleen Flynn
    Feb 13, 2024, 16:53

    The Colorado Avalanche suffered their fourth consecutive loss and need to focus on a few things in order to get back to their winning ways.

    The Colorado Avalanche suffered their fourth consecutive loss and need to focus on a few things in order to get back to their winning ways.

    After a shutout loss to the Florida Panthers on Saturday, the Colorado Avalanche need a bounce back win and are looking to snag that against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night. 

    Devon Toews said there were some positive things in the loss to the Cats, but for the most part, the team just needs to regroup and fix minor issues in its game. 

    “Just trying to get to our game consistently for 60 minutes — even in the Florida game, there’s some really good things that we’re doing. Generating offense, even D-zone we had some great shifts there (where) we’re able to get in and out of our zone," Toews told The Hockey News' Colleen Flynn after practice in South Florida on Monday. "It’s what we’re consistently doing, the little things, and the little details in our game that have been lacking a little bit. I mean last game was obviously the worst of the trip for us so far. Couple of the other games weren’t that bad and lost a point — and half the time we’re going to come out on the other side of it but last game was definitely a drop down from the standard we’ve set.” 

    Head coach Jared Bednar said they didn't give themselves a chance in the 4-0 loss to Florida and their details were "horrible." Moving on from that kind of loss to get some points out of their longest road trip of the season is tough but Toews said the team is focused on cleaning up those broken details.

    “It’s just being mature with our game and what we know it’s going to take to win. A lot of times it’s matchups — it’s harder to score on the road," Toews said. "It’s about being down to your defensive structure and sticking to that and looking at it and making games a little bit tighter instead of opening it up a little bit more. We know what it takes to win hockey games and we just got to get back to it.”

    Toews' defensive partner, Cale Makar, said the team needs to be consistent with its play and its losses should be motivation to step up to that level. 

    “Yeah when you lose four straight it definitely should be a wake up call. I think we’re still trying to do the right things," Makar said. "It’s just about executing and making sure that we stick to our game plan. But overall I think we still have a lot of confidence in this room, and can’t lose that in four games.” 

    For Toews, it is about the team getting back on track and play the game he knows it can and has played this season to earn two points a night on a consistent basis. 

    “It’s just being mature with our game and what we know it’s going to take to win. A lot of times it’s matchups — it’s harder to score on the road," the 29-year-old Abbotsford, British Columbia native said. "It’s about being down to your defensive structure and sticking to that and looking at it and making games a little bit tighter instead of opening it up a little bit more. We know what it takes to win hockey games and we just got to get back to it.”

    It's not one specific thing or lack of effort, but Bednar tried a variety of line combinations to try and see if he could find something that worked to produce offense in the Panthers game. 

    “I think chemistry’s a thing that just forms over time. I don’t think you can really force something like that to happen. I mean it’s tough right now, you’re switching up the lines every single period and trying to figure out just like we’re playing the guys that are going every night," Makar said. "I think a defining moment for our team is just when everybody is all going at once … cause everybody just plays with each other and we’re kind of just rolling. Again, it all just goes back to our systems and how we can be better within that.” 

    Recent Avalanche articles

    Miles Wood says Avs 'need to bring our best to beat this team'

    Avs inconsistent last 2 games, defensive details important against Canes

    'We need to get back to that': Andrew Cogliano knows how Avalanche can reignite their winning ways