Summary: Avalanche is still winless after a 5-3 loss to Boston

As the home game continues, the Colorado Avalanche, still looking for their first point, host a strong Eastern Conference opponent in the Boston Bruins. The Avalanche had chances to take the lead at points but never did, falling to Boston 5-3.

The game

This contest started with a better performance from the home team, but Boston got into the game first with hard work from the fourth line at 13:46 from Cole Koepke.

However, Ross Colton got a score back almost immediately as the Avalanche power play began at 15:07. He made excellent use of a pass from Mikko Rantanen in the high slot. Unfortunately, the Bruins were able to regain the lead on their own power play through Charlie Coyle less than two minutes later.

A 2-1 lead for Boston after the first period wasn't a big gap, but the Avalanche decided to dig deeper early in the second frame.

David Pastrnak scored on Boston's power play at 9:09, and 13 seconds later Hampus Lindholm converted Boston's fourth goal through a screen on Georgiev and the rout was on. The Avalanche had nothing going at that point and were playing sloppy, disjointed hockey.

Colorado was on the verge of becoming demoralized, but once the rookies were all on the ice they started to build some life, and Nikita Zadorov challenged Matt Stienburg to a fight after he threw a big shot. The Avalanche won a power play at the scrum and Cale Makar scored his first power play goal of the season at 11:15. The Avalanche didn't allow another goal and entered the second intermission trailing 2-4 after only having 11 shots on goal.

There was new energy at the start of the third period, and it paid off when Mikko Rantanen scored with his patented one-timer 4:52 into the power play to reduce the score to one. But could Colorado equalize?

The injury problems continued with another wave as Miles Wood absorbed a late goal from Elias Lindholm and subsequently left the game. He appeared to be in significant pain and the team had no information about Wood's condition. Shortly afterwards, Nikolai Kovalenko went down during a crosscheck, but was able to finish the game.

None of the goals resulted in a power play, so in a last-ditch attempt to score, the Avalanche once again pushed Georgiev in favor of the extra attacker, and Boston secured the win with an empty-net goal at 17:59, making it 5-5. 3 win.

Takeaways

After this game, many questions will arise that have no answers. Stienburg's struggle woke the team up a bit, but it was the goal that made the Avalanche stop feeling sorry for themselves. It's a fragile group that begins to sulk when things go wrong, as evidenced by the dive after the Bruins' second goal. Even the break couldn't help lift spirits and refocus energy before a truly unsettling performance in the second period – until Colorado finally scored again.

The third period was a better attempt and was once again fueled by us getting back within a point in the game. For a team that hasn't had much going for it this season, at least the power play worked, as Colorado converted all three chances tonight (and 50% this season), giving the Avalanche at least a chance to win.

Injuries were the main problem, but the club started with a thin squad and has endured the merry-go-round of missing staff throughout the season. The Stars are already reeling, with Makar playing almost 28 minutes and MacKinnon also playing 24 minutes. It doesn't seem like a long-term recipe for success, but this team is built to live and die on the backs of its elite players.

These players, along with Alexandar Georgiev, were not good enough, even considering the circumstances of the lineup. They need to find some internal motivation, but the team also seems ill-prepared to compete as a group in their current formation. In camp and in the preseason, the teams changed every day, and there was no consistency in the games either, which led to a crisis every time something went wrong.

A 0-4 start to the season isn't the best result, but it doesn't have to define the season either. A lot will happen between April and now, but this is also an opportunity to learn some lessons. A slower start could present some challenges, but a team that struggles through the season may be in a better position to succeed than one that has gotten too comfortable.

Soon

One last home game before a road trip to the West Coast. Greg Cronin and the Anaheim Ducks come to town for a game on Friday, October 18th at 7pm MT.