At the time I originally decided to write about whether the Colorado Avalanche were the real deal they were the lone occupants at the top of the Central Division. In the past week the Avs have lost three of four and proudly own fourth place in the NHL’s toughest division.
A solid win against Chicago on Tuesday night restored some confidence to the Colorado faithful and hopefully will get the Avs back on track. Things don’t get easier the rest of this week with road games against Phoenix, Los Angeles and Minnesota surrounding a mid-week home tilt against St. Louis.
A quick glance at the standings will tell you that Patrick Roy and his suddenly struggling crew will have to get right against four teams that sit ahead of them in the standings. With a home and away next Friday and Saturday against Minnesota, Colorado will certainly be put to the test.
With star center Matt Duchene nursing a strained oblique for the next game or two, the Avalanche will need to rely on their strength so far this season. Goaltending has been the biggest surprise and the biggest reason for the early season success. Semyon Varlamov and J.S. Giguere have platooned successfully in the Colorado net and currently have the team ranked third in the NHL in goals allowed at 2.1 per game.
On the offensive side Colorado have been holding their own too, sitting fifth in the league with 3.2 goals per game. With their leading scorer out of the lineup, the Avalanche lit up Chicago in the Pepsi Center 5-1 on Tuesday night. The win ended their three-game slide while the single goal allowed was the lowest total of the year for the defending Stanley Cup champs, who boast the NHL’s highest scoring offense.
The big question in Colorado is whether or not the Avalanche can sustain their early season success for the duration of the 82-game season? I’m of the belief that the Central Division will be too much for the Avs this season. The hard charging Dallas Stars, winners of three straight, are starting to stretch their legs and are nipping at Colorado’s heels in fifth place. Couple the strength and depth of the Central with the unbelievably deep Pacific, and Colorado could be on the outside looking in come playoff time.
The Avalanche simply doesn’t possess the depth on defense and I truly believe their goaltending will let them down before the end of the season. Varlamov and Giguere are both class goaltenders, but the older Giguere is at the end of his career and Varlamov has a track record of breaking down. If anything, I expect Duchene and the rest of the offense to continue their goal-scoring pace, but the weakness will be in the defensive zone.
Give the Avalanche another year or two before they can be counted among the Western Conference contenders. Colorado will take little comfort knowing that their 30 points would be good enough for the best record in the Eastern Conference, but the depth in the west unfortunately is the biggest adversary for the Avs. The playoff picture this season will unfortunately not include Colorado despite their great start.