You can change head coaches all you want in any sport but until you hold players accountable, nothing is going to change.
On Wednesday night, the Colorado Avalanche were in Los Angeles to take on the Kings and left with a methodical 7-3 win.
The Avs’ power play picked up three goals, from Nathan MacKinnon, Vladislav Kamenev and Colin Wilson, on four chances.
SemyonĂŠVarlamov made 33 saves in win over Kings – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“I just thought our special teams were real good,” Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog said. “Our power play was real sharp, and our PK did their job. To me, that was the difference.”
The penalty kill was three for three for Colorado.
“We had an early stretch of the year where our D wasn’t as involved in the offense as we’d like them to be,” Avs head coach Jared Bednar said. “Tonight we got some contributions from our back end. That’s great. We want them up and being in the play and being part of our offense, both on the rush and in the offensive zone.”
Semyon Varlamov made 33 saves
Kyle Clifford, Matt Luff and Austin Wagner scored for the Kings who dropped to 7-13-1.
“We need to play as a five-man unit out there and we’re not doing that and that’s why we are letting in so many goals,” Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said.
Tyson Barrie, Patrik Nemeth, Nikita Zadorov, and Matt Calvert also scored for the Avs.
“Execution has been there,” Bednar said. “Our guys are hungry to score on the power play. We got a lot of talent, especially now both units are contributing.”
[WATCH: All Avalanche vs. Kings highlights]
Calvin Petersen got the start for LA and yielded six goals and made 25 saves,
Peter Budaj relieved Petersen in the third and two saves and gave up on goal
“It’s not what we ever envisioned. We still really focus on defense and we never wanted to lose that part of our game, and I don’t really have a reason as to why it’s happening right now,” Doughty said.
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