Colorado Avalanche outplayed and outsmarted Utah Hockey Club on Thursday night, winning 5-1. The Avalanche have now won four in a row.
Utah, after a 3-0 start, is in a slump. They have lost three of their last four games. Utah has to return to what made them successful in the season's first three games.
In the first period, Ross Colton put the Avalanche on the board with a power play goal, assisted by Mikko Rantanen and Casey Mittelstadt. It’s Colton’s seventh goal of the season.
Avalanche would strike again nine minutes after Cale Makar put one on the net to make it 2-0 in the first period. His speed and timing are impeccable.
Colorado Avalanche dominate the Utah Hockey Club early
Casey Mittelstadt and Ivan Ivan would go on to score goals for the Avalanche.
Lawson Crouse finally put Utah on the board in the third period and avoided the shutout. Crouse scored his third goal of the season.
Overall, Utah’s performance was disappointing, and it was probably their worst loss of the season thus far.
For two games in a row, Utah played poorly, lacking execution and physicality. The team must improve defensively and avoid giving up too many goals.
There are injuries, but that’s not a good excuse for the lack of tenacity and effort.
Avoid frustration and keep it simple. Play the game simply by doing the little things. Leadership must step up now before it turns ugly.
Are we seeing the honeymoon come to an end? We sure hope not. There’s been a lot of excitement and optimism for this new team. Utah must go back to the drawing board and correct their flaws.
The upside about last night’s content is the debut of Maveric Lamoureux. Lamoureux was on the ice for the back-handed tally. He had a team-high three blocked shots, two hits, and one shot.
It was not so bad for his debut. This night was more special for him because his parents were in attendance. They weren’t sure if they were going to make it because they were in Montreal, but everything worked out.
In the 2023-24 season at AHL, Lamoureux had 33 points (nine goals, 24 assists) through 39 games.
We hope to see many more great memories and moments from the 20-year-old in a Utah jersey for years to come.
Utah’s next game will be on the road against the Los Angeles Kings at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Crypto.com arena. The Kings are 4-2-2.