DENVER – During the last seven road games for the Colorado Avalanche, the twenty-year-old hockey club started to show some promise. Three straight victories against the Flyers, Bruins and league-leading Canadiens, gave fans hope that the season was turning around.
Reto Berra – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Even more interesting than the dominating 6-1 win over Montreal, was the excellent performance by backup goaltender Reto Berra. During this stretch Berra was leading the league in both save percentage and goals against average.
Berra’s performance was a welcome sight to the Avalanche when they needed it the most. Starter Semyon Varlamov was only able to rack up 2 wins in the month of October and this was not due to a lack of offense. The Avalanche scored 24 goals during 10 games in the month of October. The goaltending, including the heavily relied upon Varlamov, allowed 29 goals in the same span.
Berra is also responsible for half of Colorado’s wins, while still leading the team in save percentage and goals against average. The question now for the Colorado Avalanche is, how much of Reto Berra are we going to see for the rest of the season and are his stats enough to earn him a regular starting spot?
Matt Duchene – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
The offense ranked in the middle of the pack of NHL teams during the month of October even without significant contribution from Center, Matt Duchene. Duchene was only able to post one goal and one assist during the opening month. Since then, the seven-year veteran has racked up 19 points, including 11 goals.
While the string of wins early in November hasn’t quite turned the season around for the Avalanche, it was a showcase of how potent this roster can be. On the other hand, the three straight disappointing losses to the Leafs, Penguins, and Capitals, have had the opposite effect and have shown how vulnerable the club can be.
Key to the Avalanche success as the season continues will be better play at home. The Avs are 3-6-1 at home this season, the worst home record in the league. This weekend saw the Avs take a big step forward with a 5-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets in Denver. But the task does not get any easier with their next two home games against the Minnesota Wild and Pittsburgh Penguins. Good news for Colorado is that neither team has dominated on the road this season.
Second, Colorado has to find a way to beef up their penalty kill unit. The Avalanche rank 23rd in penalty kill percentage at 77.8%. This is a big area where Colorado needs to improve. Cody McLeod is second in the league in penalty minutes, only behind Chris Neil of Ottawa.
If the Avalanche can find a way to solve these two problems, they will dramatically improve their chances to make it to the postseason for the first time since the 2013-2014 season.
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