Ryan O’Hara Fri, October 23, 2026 at 12:58 PM UTC · 4 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DENVER — When the Colorado Avalanche play their best hockey, they look like one of the most dangerous teams in the league. But after two disappointing losses on the road, the team's biggest concern might be that even its head coach can't quite explain what went wrong.
The Hockey News asked the Avalanche head coach what he believed was behind the team's slow, unenergetic play during its road trip, which ended with losses to the Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils.
We were hoping for a little more insight than that. As it turned out, Bednar had also been asked the same question during an appearance on Altitude Sports Radio. His response was longer, but the underlying message was largely the same.
"I don't know. I wish I knew. I felt like we were starting to hit our stride a little bit in the way we were playing. Had a little bit of a tough time putting together a full 60 minutes in those games, but when we were good, we were really good. And those were quite honestly two of the worst games I've seen our team play in years."
I'm not a head coach. The closest I've come to coaching is teaching kids how to pass the puck and skate, so I'm not going to pretend I can fully evaluate Bednar's coaching or understand what it takes to manage a roster of elite professional athletes. But I do think we deserved a more substantive answer.
The Avalanche are heading into Friday's matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Ball Arena with questions to answer. Colorado is coming off two of its worst performances in recent memory, according to its own head coach, and now faces a Tampa Bay team fresh off a 6-2 road win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.
Vegas swept the Avalanche in the playoffs last season and also entered Tuesday's game as the NHL's highest-scoring team, making Tampa Bay's 6-2 win even more impressive.
Tampa Bay also boasts Nikita Kucherov, one of the NHL's elite players, who enters Friday's game just one point shy of surpassing Steven Stamkos as the Lightning's all-time leading scorer.
It's a difficult matchup for an Avalanche team that hasn't looked like itself lately.
Many of the issues we discussed last season remain. Colorado continues to turn the puck over in its own zone, struggles to get back on defense when it needs to, and makes questionable decisions with the puck. The difference this season is that the Avalanche aren't scoring at nearly the same rate to make up for those mistakes.
It's still early in the season, and injuries have undoubtedly complicated things. Colorado is also missing some of the depth it had last season, with Valeri Nichushkin, Ross Colton and Jack Drury no longer on the roster. Nic Roy has been sidelined by injury, while Zach L'Heureux, who was expected to be a key offseason acquisition, has also dealt with multiple injuries. Those absences have made it more difficult for the Avalanche to find consistent contributions beyond their top players.
However, we would be remiss not to mention Artturi Lehkonen, who is off to the hottest start of his career with eight goals in 10 games. His 11 points are tied for second on the team behind Nathan MacKinnon, while Jaden Schwartz has also been outstanding through the first 10 games and is on pace for one of his best seasons in years.
But individual performances can only carry a team so far. Colorado needs more consistency throughout the lineup, better defensive habits and a renewed sense of urgency.
There's plenty of time to get things back on track. Two bad games don't define a season, and a team dealing with injuries deserves some leeway. But the recurring mistakes are difficult to ignore, especially when the offense isn't producing enough to cover them up.
Coaches aren't expected to have an immediate explanation for every bad performance, but identifying patterns and finding solutions is part of the job. If these were genuinely two of the worst games the Avalanche have played in years, understanding why should be a priority.
Colorado is coming off a rough road trip, Tampa Bay is coming in with momentum, and Bednar is working under a new contract extension. The Avalanche don't need to panic, but they do need answers.
And before Friday's game, it would be reassuring to know they have a better understanding of what went wrong than simply admitting they don't know.
Source: Sports
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