Colorado's head coach said the team was lacking important pieces of its game in the 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay.
Colorado's head coach said the team was lacking important pieces of its game in the 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay.
Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram had an exceptional two-goal game but was not celebrating after his team lost by three to the Lightning.
"It's good to contribute in a positive way. But like you said, at the end of the day, a loss is a loss and that was a big game for us," Byram told reporters after the game. "You know we wanted to go home with a good taste in our mouths. So now we got to go home and try to battle to get back on track."
The Bolts game was the last on the Avs' long, 12-day/six-game road trip — which they return home only three points ahead before they went on All-Star Break. Head coach Jared Bednar was frustrated after the loss and said the team has to regroup and work on the issues that need to be fixed.
"We'll have to figure out our game plan and what we want to present to our team and the message and then we'll have some discussions — we got two days," Bednar said. "But it's disappointing because I think, like I just I can't help but feel, I know this team well, right. We've got more to give than that, you know? So whether we're a little on the delusional side or we're frustrated that — we have to better than we were tonight or we're not going to win a whole bunch of hockey games."
Despite the final score, two goals were empty-netters and the Avs head coach did not fault his backup netminder Justus Annunen for the loss.
"I thought he was pretty good tonight. One of his better games that he's played for us, I thought," Bednar said. "Saw a bunch of different shots — chances against — and he looked pretty sharp. You certainly can't fault him on any of the goals that they got, I know that. But he came up with some big saves at times."
There were some bad bounces and other uncontrollable plays in the game, but the Avalanche were not making excuses for the loss. A deflated Cale Makar said he needed to be better and took responsibility for his mistakes.
"I felt like there were times where we played to our game plan," the 25-year-old defenseman said. "We were generating opportunities and then just the mishaps here and there, and those were kind of the ones that seemed to cost us whether it was just me making really bad mistakes right now or what."
The Avs did not practice on Friday but are back at it on Saturday and will not have a morning skate on Sunday with an early 4 p.m. MT start against the Arizona Coyotes.
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