Road-trip Recap: Avs Need to Improve Special Teams

The season's first road trip has proven to be a bumpy one for the franchise:

The Avalanche looked strong while at home, pulling a 3-1 victory against the Stanley Cup champions, the L.A. Kings, in their home opener Tuesday, January 22.  Two nights later, the team follow it up with a shut out against Columbus. The team went on the road with a lot of momentum, which was soon shut down in the "Shark Tank" Saturday night.

The Avs had a tough game ahead going into Saturday night, the San Jose Sharks were third in the NHL for power play goal percentage at 38.9%.  Colorado knew they had to play good defense if they were going to beat the Sharks. Saturday night's mach-up in San Jose took a turn for the worst when Avalanche captain, Gabriel Landeskog, took a big hit late in the first period from San Jose's Brad Stuart. Landeskog made a return to the ice late in the game, but head and neck injuries resulting from the hit made Landeskog a roster scratch in Edmonton and Vancouver.  With the captain injured early on in the game, the Avs couldn't hold on to the game.  They couldn't get out of the penalty box, and the scoreboard showed it with San Jose shutting out the Avs, 4-0.

The Avs flew north  to Edmonton for their second road trip match-up, hoping to change the mood and get a 'W' against the Oilers. With the captain as a scratch, the team had a tough match in Edmonton, Monday night.  In a locker room interview before the game, Avalanche defensemen, Eric Johnson, admitted that the team needs to work on penalty kills.  Once they stepped on the ice, the game appeared to be a repeat of San Jose. Colorado spent twice as much time in the box as Edmonton.  P.A. Parenteau shed some light on the night, scoring a goal in the third period. The Oilers responded right back with yet another goal in the last minute of the game.  Edmonton scored all four of their goals on power plays, showing no improvement in Colorado's penalty kill.  Edmonton topped the Avs, 4-1.

Colorado went into Vancouver looking to ignore the past and win an important division game, Wednesday night.  The Avalanche, struggling with penalty kill and power play lines, needed to make a positive change.  When asked about the special teams, Joe Sacco stated in a pre-game interview that the team was, "going to fix those things," going into Vancouver. Sacco's broken record keeps playing, as the Avalanche had five power play opportunities that went without goals. Colorado was shut out for the second time on the road, 3-0.

Colorado has one more game left on this bumpy road trip Thursday night, and it's another Northwest Division mach-up.  Milan Hejduk will face former teammate Alex Tanguay when the Avalanche dive into the flames in Calgary. These two teams have had similar starts to the season.  The Avalanche (2-4-0)  rank just above the Flames (1-2-1) in the Northwest Division standings. The ability of the Avalanche's special teams will play a huge role in Thursday night's game. The Flames and Avalanche are similarly ranked when it comes to overall penalty kill percentage, but the Flames have a much higher percentage of power play goals.  The Avalanche will need to focus on staying out of the box and work on penalty kill defense in order to stop the Flames, and end their rocky road trip with a division win.

Landeskog's Injury Leaning Tables Towards O'Reilly's Return?

The Colorado Avalanche's captain Gabriel Landeskog suffered from a big hit by San Jose Shark's Brad Stuart Saturday afternoon, resulting in head and leg injuries. Even though he made a late return in  Saturday's game,  Landeskog was a scratch from the game in Edmonton Monday night as a result from these injuries.

It's still unsure how long these injuries will keep Landeskog off the ice, but injuries to the franchise's youngest captain give the team a rough start to the season.

The Avalanche roster was already down a forward with the loss of Steve Downie earlier in the season.  Downie tore his ACL, needing season-ending surgery during the home opener against the L.A. Kings.  The Avalanche putting another forward on the injured reserve list this early in such a short season may force them to start looking for a solution.

Is one of last seasons' leading forwards Ryan O'Reilly a possible solution to this hole?

O'Reilly was key player throughout the 2011-2012 Colorado Avalanche season.  Season stats show O'Reilly lead the team in points (55) and assists (37). O'Reilly was also forth overall in goals scored (18).

Contract negotiation issues are still keeping O'Reilly from stepping onto the Pepsi Center ice. According to the Denver Post, O'Reilly has already turned down two offers: one for two years worth $7 million, and the other for five years worth $17 million.

O'Reilly was let go by his KHL team because of an injury he recently aggravated. The team also stated that because of contract negotiations with the NHL, they wanted to find a replacement for O'Reilly before their Jan 31 deadline.

It looks like, even being down by two forwards, the Avalanche aren't close to signing the center anytime soon. Pressure to resolve this issues may soon be looming over this franchise the longer Landeskog stays off the ice.