After its 2-1 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings in Colorado Springs on Thursday, the Avalanche has scored only eight goals in seven preseason games.
Some of those games have not featured many regular-season regulars, but the preseason winless Avs are concerned about their offense, with the season opener on tap next Thursday at Minnesota.
“It’s very frustrating right now. You can lose a couple games and take a look then, but to lose this many and not be scoring goals when we’re getting chances, it’s something we have to figure out quick,” left wing Ryan O’Reilly said. “You have to get it going now, because once the season starts you have to have it figured out. It’s a real mental regroup right now. We have to approach the game a different way and find a different way to do it.”
The Avs conclude the preseason Saturday in Las Vegas against Los Angeles at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Berra big in net. One of the few Avalanche bright spots in the preseason has been backup goalie Reto Berra, who has played well in his past three starts. He made 42 saves in regulation and overtime in Colorado Springs and stopped the Kings’ first three shootout attempts.
“He played really well,” coach Patrick Roy said of Berra, who absorbed a 3-2 overtime loss at Montreal and a 2-0 (empty-net) setback at Calgary over the past week. “A lot of people had a question mark on him, but I think he did exactly what he had to do to make everybody comfortable and believe in him.
“I trust in him that when Varly (Semyon Varlamov) has to take a night off, he’ll be able to give us some good hockey.”
Berra was acquired at the trade deadline last season from Calgary, in exchange for a second-round draft pick. The Swiss goalie is succeeding the retired Jean-Sebastien Gigure as Varlamov’s backup and was given a three-year contract extension that pays him $1.45 million per season.
Berra’s hard work with goalies coach Francois Allair appears to have paid off.
“If we score a couple goals, we can win a lot of hockey games with him,” O’Reilly said.
Footnotes. Injured forwards John Mitchell (migraines), Jamie McGinn (back) and Jesse Winchester (concussion) are not on the trip. Roy said he isn’t sure whether Jarome Iginla, who has an ankle injury, would play Saturday. … Varlamov is scheduled to start.
