'That was on us': Avalanche not making excuses for loss to Canadiens

usatsi_22876030_168400956_lowres

The Colorado Avalanche did not make excuses for their 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, but head coach Jared Bednar said he did not like his team after a full day off and that may have contributed to the lack of energy.

“I mean we just weren’t pushing the way we can. Energy, looked like the energy was down, yeah,” head coach Jared Bednar said after the loss. “… I mean it can happen. You just don’t have it every single night, right? But, still frustrating.”

The Avs’ are three games into a five-game home stand — and while games on every other day make for a fluid schedule, the start times have varied.

They beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-1 on Friday night, then staged a 5-4 overtime comeback win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday afternoon. The team did not practice on Monday, which could have been a reason for the lack of intensity.

“We’re playing every second night, I like that. But yesterday, (after) a scheduled day off, generally, I feel like your team comes out a little bit sleepy, you know, and we stay on the ice,” Bednar said after practice on Wednesday. “It’s why we skated today. It’s why we’ll skate again after the (New York) Ranger(s) game before the four o’clock game (Nashville Predators on Saturday).”

Defenseman Cale Makar said the team struggled with what “they were throwing at” them but that it was a lesson moving forward. Forward Ross Colton did not avoid taking blame and also said it was a game to learn from.

“When you have a full day off obviously it’s tough but we had morning skate, we had all day to prepare, so that was on us,” Ross Colton said. “I think, you know, we were rolling there for a while that, you know, obviously can’t look at teams’ records, but I think we were going to take them a little bit lightly and they came out flying. They played well structured, but we had some lapses there. I don’t know, it’s just another game, kind of turn the page and we learned from it today. Had a good practice and getting excited for tomorrow.”

The Avalanche face off against the New York Rangers at 7 p.m. MT on Thursday. The Rangers officially clinched a playoff berth with a 6-5 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.

Recent Colorado Avalanche articles

‘There’s pretty strong belief that we can come back’: Avalanche’s mental strength crucial to win games

Avalanche sign goaltender Justus Annunen to 2-year contract