Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said the four-game road trip was important for the team to build chemistry with new players and prove it can be successful away from home. Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said the team needed to establish itself as a winning road team — and that's what it's done two games into a four-game trip. The Avs earned a dominant 6-2 comeback win over the Calgary Flames as they continue to work on getting to a fluid game with four new players, and were missing two key forwards. Artturi Lehkonen has been out due to illness and Zach Parise has been out day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The top line — Valeri Nichushkin, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen — combined for nine points in the victory. Backup netminder Justus Annunen made 25 saves and improved his game after allowing two goals in the first period giving the Canucks a one-goal lead. Josh Manson scored his seventh of the season to tie it up in the second and the Avalanche scored four unanswered goals to finish the game. Jonathan Drouin took a hit in Tuesday night's game and didn't play against the Vancouver Canucks the next night with a lower-body injury. The Avs went into Rogers Arena at a disadvantage missing two top-six forwards and a middle-six forward along with being on the second game of a back-to-back. But they managed a comeback after a three-nil deficit to win 4-3 in overtime. MacKinnon referred to the win as the best of the year and even with adversity coming into the game, there was no quit in the team. "We've always been a really good group, down a couple even. When we won the Cup, it was almost better when we were losing for some reason," MacKinnon told Altitude Sports' Katie Gaus after the win over the Canucks [https://x.com/AltitudeTV/status/1768294516123943098?s=20]. "We just push harder, be more aggressive. So it just feels like when we're down, we just push and push and back-to-back comeback wins, and I'm really happy about it." Wednesday night was the Avs' 21st comeback win of the season. The Dallas Stars and New Jersey Devils have the same number but Colorado has the most three-plus goal overall comeback wins in the league. The Avalanche were successful in back-to-back situations last season as the No. 2 team in the league for points. In 26 games played, Colorado earned a 19-5-2 record for 40 points. The team won 10 of the 13 games on the second half of the back-to-back. While they haven't been as successful this year, they still have a 4-2-0 record for the second game played. It seems MacKinnon may be on to something since the last two Stanley Cup-winning seasons — 2000-01 and 2021-22 — the Avs produced 22 comeback wins each. Not that playing from behind is ever a good strategy, it has worked in Colorado's favor. The Avalanche have proven to be a team that should not be ruled out when trailing and not to be underestimated at full strength. Colorado sits in the No. 3 spot [https://media.nhl.com/stats-reports/team/goals-for?season=20232024&gameType=2&pageSize=50&page=0] for most goals scored 5-on-5, behind the Canucks and Stars. The Avalanche have shown several reasons to be feared as the season winds down ahead of the playoffs — and that's just in the last two games on the road, coming back from being behind, against formidable opponents. RECENT COLORADO AVALANCHE ARTICLES Logan O'Connor out for season; Avalanche face Flames in 1st of 4-game road trip [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/colorado-avalanche/game-day/logan-oconnor-out-for-season-avalanche-face-flames-in-1st-of-4-game-road-trip] 'We think an awful lot of him': Newly acquired forward's impact on Avalanche [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/colorado-avalanche/players/newly-acquired-forwards-impact-on-avalanche]
