Colorado Avalanche Need to Stay Above .500 Against Chicago Blackhawks
The Colorado Avalanche are back on the road against the Blackhawks tonight, and they need to focus on staying above the .500 mark.
The Colorado Avalanche are 1-3 in their last four games, and a loss tonight against the Blackhawks would be unacceptable.
Luckily, the last time the Avs were facing the chance of going below .500 they were able to come up with a win.
That was against the Arizona Coyotes. Furthermore, this game is also luckily on the road, where the Avs currently have a winning record of 3-2.
Unfortunately for the Avs, the Blackhawks are currently on a three game winning streak in which they have outscored their opponents 11-3…
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They are also 5-1-1 on home ice, so this is not going to be an easy game for the Avalanche tonight by any means. Nonetheless, it is still a must win game for the Avs as far as I am concerned.
Avs Will Hope to Find Consistency in Game Tonight
I wrote a more extensive post about this, so look for that below:
Bednar seems to have his lines set up now, and he hasn’t been doing much line changing in games. Hopefully it clicks soon for the Avs so that they can roll four lines.
Furthermore, the Avs also need to have some consistency within the game, not just on a game-to-game basis. That means approaching every period with the same fire and attitude.
Consistency is what separates the good teams from the bad teams. The Avalanche have a 4-4 record through the first eight, which is by no means bad. However, if they want to find themselves among the ranks of the good teams then they need to string some wins together.
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That starts tonight before the Colorado Avalanche head home for five out of their next six games.
A Win Against the Hawks Sets the Avs Straight Before Heading Home
The Colorado Avalanche have yet to play consecutive games on home ice. And, they will play the Minnesota Wild on Saturday after this Blackhawks game tonight before heading back out on the road for one game against the St. Louis Blues. Then, they will finally have a four game homestand.
So far, the Avalanche are 1-2 on home ice. A win tonight against the Hawks would send them home with a respectable 4-2 record on the road to start the season.
Tonight is certainly an important game for all the implications it has on the standings and an above or below .500 record. However, a win could also give the Avs momentum heading into an important stretch on home ice.
I know it’s early, but the early excuse only lasts so long, and it might be starting to run out of steam. The Avalanche will definitely want to put up a 6-4 record in their first ten games, and that starts tonight against the Hawks.
Conclusion
The Colorado Avalanche are facing three of the hottest teams in the NHL in the next three games. The will play the Hawks, Wild and Blues Thursday, Saturday and Sunday respectively.
Both the Hawks and Wild currently have a 6-3-1 record while the Blues have a 5-3-2 record. And those three teams are the three teams that make up the top of the Central Division.
This is an important stretch in Avalanche territory, and a win tonight is paramount to a successful start to the season.
The game tonight against the Hawks is at 6:30 pm MST. While the two games over the weekend will be played at 1:00 pm MST Saturday, and 3:00 pm MST Sunday against the Wild and Blues respectively.
Matinee games are always fun, and that Sunday game will be even more fun knowing that the Denver Broncos play on Sunday night football. That’s a sports filled afternoon.
That’s all for today folks, thank you for stopping by.
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