Three weeks ago, the Avalanche was 10-1-2, reveling in its status as the NHL’s biggest surprise, and sitting in first place in the Northwest Division.
On Sunday, as it went through an unusually extensive regular-season practice at the Family Sports Center, the Avalanche had gone 3-6-1 since that high-water mark. The recent three-game intradivisional road trip included a victory at Calgary, but then consecutive come-from-ahead defeats at Edmonton (6-4) and Vancouver (5-2).
If this is a team finding its true level, Colorado at least could take comfort in this: Even after the recent trials, the Avalanche goes into tonight’s home game against Philadelphia with a one-point lead over the Flames in the Northwest.
“It’s a matter of getting back on track,” said goaltender Craig Anderson, who is scheduled for his 22nd start in 24 games. “Every team goes through losing streaks. It’s the ups and downs of the year. For our start, it was a really good mountain we climbed. Now we’ve slid down a bit, and we have to make sure we put the hiking boots back on and get back up there.”
After his NHL first-star performance in October, Anderson’s goals- against average has crept up to 2.52 after he was in net at Calgary and Vancouver. As of Sunday, that was the 13th-best figure among goal-tenders who have played at least 10 games. His .923 save percentage was fifth, behind Tampa Bay’s Antero Nittymaki, Buffalo’s Ryan Miller, San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov and St. Louis’ Chris Mason.
“I think it’s just a matter of teams scoring on their scoring chances,” Anderson said. “I think early in the year, we had maybe a little bit of luck with posts, or maybe it jumped over somebody’s stick, where they didn’t get as many goals on their scoring chances. Right now, they’re capitalizing on their scoring chances.”
Avalanche coach Joe Sacco said of Anderson: “I thought he played well against Vancouver. On the one goal there, he got himself out of position, but in the first two periods, I thought he was good. We gave up more chances in the third period than we did in the first two combined.”
Therein lies the rub: Sometimes, the mark of a team with promise, but with holes to fill, can be the inability to consistently play complete games. The Avs often have gotten away with slow starts, winning four games after falling behind by two goals, and the bigger problem of late has been the third-period collapses.
“When you go into the third period with the lead, you’re not playing bad hockey,” said veteran defenseman Scott Hannan. “We just have to learn how to play with the lead. We’re still first in our division, though. We’re going through this patch right now, but we have to focus to play for a full 60.”
Sacco said, “I know it’s repetitive, but we’re a really good hockey team when we’re playing to our identity. We’re on the puck, we’re forechecking, our ‘D’ gets active, our ‘D’ keeps pucks alive. . . .
“We have to have the same mind-set in the third period that we have in the first two. If we do that, like we did in the first 15 games of the year, we’ll collect more wins.”
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
Notebook
Flyers: Philadelphia is 1-2 on its Western trip, beating Los Angeles and then losing at San Jose and Phoenix. . . . The Flyers’ James van Riemsdyk, with six goals and 18 points, has overtaken the Avs’ Ryan O’Reilly (15 points) and is second only to the Islanders’ John Tavares (19 points) in the rookie scoring race. . . . Philadephia’s top defensive pairing, former University of Denver star Matt Carle and veteran Chris Pronger, are first and third, respectively, in the league in plus-minus.
Avalanche: Adam Foote (jaw) didn’t practice Sunday, and he is “doubtful” for tonight’s game, coach Joe Sacco said. . . . Defenseman Ruslan Salei, who hasn’t played since Oct. 8 because of a back problem, has suffered a setback in his recovery and wasn’t on the ice Sunday. “The back flared up a little bit, so we wanted to keep him off it for a few days to see and maybe get him back on the ice soon,” Sacco said. . . . Winger Matt Hendricks (groin) hasn’t played since Nov. 14, and Sacco said the Avs hoped he could begin skating again today. . . . On the latest of its “Alumni Nights,” the Avalanche will honor former defenseman Uwe Krupp tonight. He will drop the ceremonial first puck and fans will receive a poster replica of the painting the team will present the German-born defenseman. Krupp’s overtime goal in Game 4 of the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals clinched the state’s first major-league championship.
