Colorado Avalanche stumble against Minnesota Wild as special teams woes and questionable officiating fuel frustration. Can Nathan MacKinnon and the flagging power play regroup for a playoff push, or will these issues continue to haunt the Avs? Hosts Chris Micieli and Zach Pearson break down the Avalanche’s 5-2 loss, spotlighting standout performances from Martin Nečas and Ross Colton, while highlighting key moments like Eriksson Ek’s controversial goal and Filip Gustavsson’s surprising resilience in net—despite playing ill.
Key topics include the ongoing power play struggles, the impact of penalty calls—especially the disputed Cale Makar slashing penalty—and the physical edge Minnesota brings to every matchup. Listener reactions heat up the conversation, and the hosts debate drastic changes for the Avalanche’s special teams. Don’t miss this lively analysis of the Avs’ path forward as the division race tightens and frustration mounts in Denver.
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30 Comments
Rachel Tos wasnt there, this is why the loss. Lets be real.
Maybe we do need to open that Nate can of worms. It almost seems like the team defaults to him to their own detriment. Not diminishing how great of a player he is, but the team needs to realize that there are 4 other guys on the ice too. Mac might need to be moved around on the PP, cause like you said Chris, what do they have to lose? Time to start throwing more stuff at the wall to see what sticks!
Nhl doesnt know there own rules lol what a joke. Been going on for 4 year now that i know about too much corruption for gambling
Aside from the game, hope your birthday was great Chris.
Now its confirmed that some 10 year old boy runs this channel.
Hot take, Filip puked from exhaustion after getting peppered for the last 20 minutes.
Crazy how this team went from looking absolutely like a cup front runner (favorite) for the first half of the season, to now just being another first round exit.
Teams actually use to be scared of Colorado when the season began, now theyre all laughing.
You have SO much individual skill on a team together, yet they do not know how to play as a team. This is a testament to how bad their powerplay has been all season.
It feels like it's all the same elements of the gold medal game. Mainly a golie staying on his head was the biggie
I'm not inclined to blame the refs for most losses, but that was ridiculous. That said, the continuing "stand around on the perimeter" power play where the defense doesn't have to move at all didn't work, how shocking. Very frustrating loss. Goalied again, too…they did have some chances, but ran into a wall. One of the rare times I gave up on a game where we were down by 2 with five minutes to go. Shake it off and move on…but the point lead is nearly gone, so yeah, it's time to be concerned.
Cmon dude Boldy was cross checked in the face
Should have been even more 5 on 3 time. Missed a double minor on Ek behind the net
Boo hoooo hooo Dont let the Canadian chokers on your team bring you down..
Happy birthday to Chris!!!!! 🎉🥳
Bad calls and no calls aside, the Avalanche malaise is pathetic. Our big players aren't playing like our big players. Makar made multiple atrocious defensive mistakes last night and MacKinnon looked like he was still feeling sorry for himself for missing the net in the Olympic final. Nichushkin is playing offensively like the guy the Stars gave up on. He sucks. And the power play………again, pathetic. This is not a true Cup contender as of today. The job last night was to let the Wild know who the boss is. We did that and we let them know they are the boss! The Wild owned the Avs physically as well. Just embarrassing. The Avs better figure out how to defeat the trap because they are not doing that and every team is going to play that garbage on them until the season is over. Losing to the Wild on home ice is inexcusable.
Good teams overcome. There were some missed calls on the Avs as well.
I don't know. But it seems that this season the AVS have lost in their alternate uniforms. Stick with the Big A.
Not the best looking uniforms.
The Avs get stuck in their few default plays way too much which is just forcing the puck to and from Mack in coverage. If you see any team clog the blue line to prevent their zone entries then they need to adjust to a dump and chase or at the very least a chip and chase to break through the clog. The Avs seem incapable of playing behind the goal line and that is the biggest area they've needed to improve for the last 3.5 seasons. Both the power play and 5 on 5 cycling needs to utilize the space behind the net to appropriately open up the space that Mack and Makar want the puck in.
Look at the Wilds 5 on 3 power play, they had 2 guys passing the puck behind the net to each other and feeding up top to the point for their shots when the space was created for it due to the puck being down low. There was 0 forced passes into players already in coverage and they forced the Avs penalty killers to stay honest and not cheat/cut corners. Why is it that 31 teams in the NHL are capable of using the puck to push and pull defenders in and out of space on the ice, yet the Avs continue to force passes to and from Mack in single and double coverage and haven't changed anything for the last 4+ seasons.
Let the Puck do the work on the power play !!! Look at how Tampa and Kucherov float around into open space on a power play, never forces a pass through anyone, always uses open space to push the puck to, to pull defenders from the spaces where they want to shoot, then they cycle the puck around freely never forcing a pass through 2+ bodies/sticks to get those specific shot opportunities.
I've reached the point where I want to see Mack benched from the PP1, the puck movement looks significantly better when he's missing. If he's not capable of utilizing the space on the ice appropriately he has no business being out there. It's a team sport and the logo on the front of the Jersey is supposed to matter more then the name on the back of it. It's asinine to put the Avs into the position of having the 32nd ranked power play because Mack insists on touching the puck the most. McDavid, Celebrini, Kucherov none of the other elite players in the league do this crap, they all adjust to let the puck do the work.
I'm not even concerned about the Wild game overall, it's been a scheduled loss since October when the schedule got released. I would like to see some appropriate adjustments on the power play finally though.
Happy Birthday Chris!
Fubo blocked the live broadcast of the game and only aired the Bernie version of the game. I could only stomach that terrible nonsense for ten minutes before I had to stop watching. That version of a hockey game was like nails on a chalk board for me.
Dude, Minnesota is a bad hockey team 😂 back to back for the Avs plus the refs playing for the wild and they barely beat them
19:56 Did either of you miss the high stick to Ek’s face earlier in the 2nd? (Blood drawn?) Were your minds boggled by THAT non-call too? Missed calls happen often — to both teams, stop the whining please.
No calls. 😂
😢 we didn't get no calls 😢. You lost is what it is.
Completely one sided. Ek got high sticked with blood right in front of ref. No call.
Separate29 and 88 !! Put 88 on the second pp line. They do not work well together too much movement no one knows where the other is.
"A true measure of ones character is how they handle adversity."
It is patently absurd to complain about refereeing.
From the day i stepped skate on the ice in 1964, I identified the challenge of both the opponent AND the humans managing the action.
Go change your diapers, Avalanche nation.
Soooooo many excuses my god you guys have Mack and makar score on the damn pp maybe
Crying about the refs and luck? Are you guys Canadian? Also: get a life, losers.
EK also got highsticked behind the net right in front of the ref with no call and had blood on his face. Avs just got outplayed for 2 periods. It happens. The blaming of the refs and bounces is basically just disregarding how good the wild actually are. Mackinnon and Makar were nowhere to be found. Credit to the wild. Not holding the Avs accountable to switch things up when Gus stopped 45 shots should be the main talking point. Not making excuses about calls or saying the wild got lucky.
Last night's game was the epitome of why the AVS won't last long in the post season. Wild pp is ranked #2 and obviously we know where tge Avs sit. You MUST have at least at 25% power play to win in the post season.
Avs fans sounding like the Canadians after losing the gold medal round.