Avs Notebook: Week That Was and What is Ahead in Canada

A couple of wins and a western Canada trip ahead.

It’s been a week for the Avs.

A Halloween win over one of the league’s top teams — on the road in Vegas, no less — looked like the Avalanche had found their stride. But less than 24 hours later came a letdown, as Colorado escaped San Jose with only a single point. What started as a promising afternoon against one of the NHL’s weakest squads turned into a frustrating “what-could’ve-been” performance and another overtime loss.

Fortunately, Tuesday night brought a bounceback at home. Colorado took both points against visiting Tampa Bay in regulation, earning a 3-2 win. The Lightning struck first on a Nikita Kucherov goal, but the Avs answered with three straight before hanging on in the third behind a sturdy defensive effort that closed the door with the help of Scott Wedgewood in net.

In an Olympic season with a compressed schedule, it’s rare for any team to get a three-day break between games — yet that’s where we are right now, as Colorado heads north of the border for a weekend Canadian double against Edmonton and Vancouver.
These breaks are precious: it’ll only happen three more times all season (not counting the Olympic pause) — one in two weeks, another around Christmas, and a final stretch in mid-January. You’d love to have a break sometime in March and April when the schedule is an absolute gauntlet with only one two-day break in that month, but you take rest when you can.