Avalanche eager to regain footing in encounter vs. Red Wings
After beginning January on a historic pace, the Colorado Avalanche find themselves stumbling as they wrap up the month at the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday afternoon.
Colorado had just two regulation losses one game into the 2026 calendar year before losing eight of its next 12 games (4-6-2). The rut hasn't derailed the Avalanche's championship hopes, however there has been a level of concern after decisive losses at Ottawa and Montreal on consecutive nights.
Colorado leads the NHL in shots by a wide margin but managed just 18 in a 5-2 loss to the Senators on Wednesday night. Just 24 hours later, it gave up an early goal and lost 7-3 to the Canadiens.
The Avalanche, who also lead the league in goals-against average (2.48), have allowed seven goals in three of their last seven games.
"Just having trouble putting the puck in the net, and we're having trouble keeping it out of our net right now, too," Colorado head coach Jared Bednar said after the loss at Montreal. "It's kind of tough sledding for us right now."
Nathan MacKinnon, who is second in the NHL in scoring with 88 points and leads the league in goals with 38, hasn't scored one in the last five games.
Martin Necas is second on the Avalanche with 62 points (22 goals, 40 assists) but has just two assists in his last five games.
Brock Nelson has provided an offensive spark with four goals and one assist in the last three games.
Detroit has lost three of its last four but earned a point in two of those to stay close to first-place Tampa Bay in the Atlantic Division. The Red Wings dropped a 4-3 shootout decision to Washington on Thursday night in a game that saw Patrick Kane become the all-time scoring leader among U.S.-born players.
Kane's assist on defenseman Ben Chiarot's goal in the second period moved him past Hall of Famer Mike Modano, who grew up in Livonia, Mich., and played for Detroit at the end of his career. Kane now has 1,375 points, with a bulk of those coming in 16 years with Chicago.
"I never really thought about any American scoring records or being a top American player of all time, right?" Kane said recently. "You're just playing."
Kane has 32 points this season (eight goals, 24 assists) but the Red Wings are led by 23-year-old Lucas Raymond, who has team-leading totals in assists (40) and points (58). Alex DeBrincat tops Detroit with 30 goals and has 57 points, and captain Dylan Larkin is third on the team in scoring with 48 points (25 goals, 23 assists).
Saturday is the first of a home-and-home set between the teams. The teams meet in Denver on Monday.