Avalanche forward remembers having the same problem in Nashville. Wilson was with the Predators in 2016-17 when they advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.
But they were dreadful in overtime.
“We were like 1-10 or something,” Wilson said Wednesday morning from the , where the Avs host Vancouver at 7:30 p.m.
The Preds finished with a Western Conference-high 12 OT losses in 2016-17, which explains why they barely advanced to the playoffs as the No. 8 seed.
Colorado is coming off its 12th overtime loss this season Monday when Florida scored in the first minute of the 3-on-3 period. The Avs are a league-worst 1-12 in OT, and that’s a big reason why they are on the Western Conference playoff bubble instead of having a comfortable cushion.
“It’s just mental, and you have to step on it,” Wilson said. “You just have to get the confidence back, control the puck. We had a skilled team in Nashville, just like this one. Plenty of guys who could get it done 3-on-3, but over time it gets in your head.”
It’s definitely fresh in everyone’s minds, given that the Avs are 0-4 in OT over an 11-game stretch that has them collecting points in nine of them. Officially, Colorado is 5-2-4 in that span.
Wilson has a chance to help the Avs in all situations Wednesday when he returns from an eight-game injury absence (upper-body). He will play right wing on a line with center Sheldon Dries and left wing .
Settling in. Newcomer Derick Brassard, who was acquired from Florida before Monday’s trade deadline, will play left wing on a line with center and . Brassard traded locker rooms at the Pepsi Center Monday after being traded to the team he was scheduled to play against that night. A pending unrestricted free agent, Brassard expected to be moved and brought extra luggage from Florida.
“But since I was in Florida I only had warm-weather clothes,” he said Wednesday.
Brassard spent Tuesday’s off day shopping for clothes and a short-term lease on a furnished apartment. The Avs have no plans to try to negotiate a contract extension with Brassard until the team sees how he performs.
Avalanche lineup
Forwards
First: Kerfoot-MacKinnon-Rantanen
Second: Brassard-Soderberg-Compher
Third: Landeskog-Jost-Calvert
Fourth: Andrighetto-Dries-Wilson
Defensemen
First: Girard-Johnson
Second: Graves-Barrie
Third: Nemeth-Zadorov
Goaltenders
Varlamov, Grubauer
