Well, this is not fun at all. The Avalanche have lost 5 of their last 6 - 3 to divisional rivals - and are in danger of dropping out of the top 8 in the Western Conference. The Avalanche have managed to lose in just about every way possible. They've lost games they've played well in and games they've played lousy in. They've lost with great special teams and terrible special teams. They've lost with solid goaltending and terrible goaltending. They've lost at home, on the road, with a fox, in a box, on a train and in the rain. You get the idea.
The only consistent aspect of the Avs' play is that a) they are losing and b) they are no longer going all Wilt Chamberlain on the league. The Avs' high-scoring offense hasn't been all that high-scoring of late. We're now looking at 7 consecutive games where the Avalanche have failed to score more than 3 goals (shootout gimmes don't can't). That's the longest streak of the Joe Sacco tenure.
Over the years, the Avalanche have had many team aspects worth boasting about - sometimes more than one. We've had dazzling goaltending at times. We've had stocked bluelines at times. We've had teams filled with guys who didn't mind punching you in the face if you looked at them funny. For my money, though, high-octane offenses are what gets my blood pumping and the first 30 games of this season were extremely entertaining to watch. I don't know where all that scoring went - we can't blame it all on Chris Stewart, can we? - but I would sure like for someone to find it again. Please. These 2-1 losses are really becoming a buzz kill.