There’s no secret to why the Colorado Avalanche are having an awful season. Their roster is nowhere near competitive to their competition, especially against the Central Division. And yet here we stand once again looking at the box score of a Winnipeg Jets wondering how a team with such a worse record can beat the Jets, who make competition like the Blackhawks, Blues, and Stars look easy to beat. How can they crack the code?
If we were to subtract the games they played the Jets, the Colorado Avalanche’s record would look a bewildering 11-32-2, good for one of the worst records in recent history. Adding the Jets four games against the Avalanche, and their record looks 14-33-2. To determine just how bad that is, 21.4% of the Avalanche’s wins have come against the Jets, while just 8% of their games involved them. The Avalanche have had just two home wins since the middle of November, and yesterdays game was the second. (A loss to the Avalanche on Nov 11 started that streak as well.)
A look at what they were up against, and once again the result looks unacceptable. Their goaltender, sophomore Calvin Pickard has a goals against average north of three per game. Looking at their defense, and only two exceed anything the Jets have. With Tyson Barrie, and Erik Johnson both out of the lineup, the Avalanche had Nikita Zadorov, and Francois Beachemin on their first pairing. Past that, Weircoch, Gelinas, Barberio, and Goloubef are nothing better than sixth or seventh options. The Jets scored only two goals in the entire game. And to get out chanced by a defence like is unacceptable.
How can games like this possibly end in such a bad result? Is it a lack of preparation? Underestimating the other team? That’s extremely possible. As much as you try not to, it’s impossible to take a game against the last place team the same you can as the first place team. Many of these games have been on the road as well, putting jet lag into the conversation.
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The big difference in these games has been their star players not showing up. It’s great to see Adam Lowry score two goals, and shine, but he shouldn’t be the best player on the ice for the Jets. Almost all of Patrik Laine’s goals have come at the MTS Centre, and there’s something about Jets fans that push another gear into Dustin Byfuglien. The reasons for this is endless, but lots of it could be routine. At home, the Jets can prepare for games the same way for every game. With the crazy schedule they have, road itineraries are so different. Sometimes they fly overnight to their next destination, disturbing sleep, or other times reach the city a day or two before the game.
This has been a problem with this group ever since Atlanta came to Winnipeg. Both Claude Noel, and Paul Maurice haven’t been able to turn the tides. This time of year, “must-win” games have a whole new meaning. Going into games against teams worse than them, the Jets must have a “We Can’t Lose This Game” mentality. If you can’t beat the Avalanche, you can’t make the playoffs.