For a team that has spent much of the season overwhelming opponents with speed, skill, and offensive pressure, the Colorado Avalanche have one oddly persistent blemish on their résumé.
They keep giving up shorthanded goals.
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The Avalanche have allowed 12 shorthanded goals through 64 games this season — the most in the NHL — a surprising statistic for one of the league’s top teams. On the surface, it sounds alarming, and to some degree, it is.
But history suggests it’s far from a fatal flaw.
Colorado has dominated large portions of the season despite operating with a power play that hasn’t always been among the league’s elite. The penalty kill, meanwhile, has remained one of the NHL’s most dependable units, consistently shutting down opposing power plays and keeping the Avalanche firmly in control of games.
Recently, however, a strange trend has emerged.
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While the Avalanche power play has started converting at a higher rate, the risk has grown on the other end of the ice. Colorado has surrendered eight shorthanded goals over its last 24 games — a spike that stands out for a team with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations.
It’s not a crisis, but it is something the Avalanche would prefer to clean up as the calendar inches toward the playoffs.
Oddly enough, shorthanded goals against have followed the Avalanche before — even during championship seasons.
When the franchise captured its first Stanley Cup after relocating to Denver in 1996, Colorado allowed an astonishing 22 shorthanded goals during the regular season. That total remains tied for the most in NHL history, alongside the 1984–85 Pittsburgh Penguins and the 1991–92 Minnesota North Stars.
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Yet that didn’t stop the Avalanche from hoisting the Stanley Cup.
Credit: @RVR Photos. Mario Lemieux in 1996.
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the other two teams. The Penguins — despite having Mario Lemieux, who debuted that season and scored on his very first NHL shot — finished with a 24-51-5 record. The North Stars weren’t much better, ending the season at 32-42-6.
The Avalanche were the clear anomaly, and it certainly didn’t hurt that they had one of the greatest goaltenders in NHL history — Patrick Roy — anchoring the crease.
Even the legendary 2000–01 Avalanche, widely regarded as one of the most talented teams of the modern era, wasn’t immune to the issue. That team allowed 11 shorthanded goals during the regular season, which ranked ninth-most in the league.
Ray Bourque with the Stanley Cup on January 23 during the Avalanche’s celebration of the 2001 Cup-winning team.
In other words, elite teams can survive this problem — and sometimes even win championships despite it.
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Still, the numbers are worth keeping an eye on.
Colorado’s 12 shorthanded goals allowed already lead the league, and there are still 18 regular-season games remaining.
At their current rate — 12 goals in 64 games — the Avalanche are on pace to allow about 15 shorthanded goals over an 82-game season. That would still be a notable number, but it remains comfortably below the all-time record.
In the grand scheme of things, it’s a manageable issue rather than a catastrophic one.
At this stage of the season, sweeping changes are rarely the answer.
The Avalanche aren’t going to reinvent their power play system with the postseason looming — nor should they. What matters now are the small adjustments that separate good teams from championship teams.
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Puck management becomes critical. So does anticipation.
Loose pucks at the blue line must be won. Risky cross-ice passes have to be timed properly. When a play breaks down — and eventually one will — the response has to be immediate.
That’s where championship habits take over.
Backchecking urgency. Defensive awareness. The instinct to recover rather than hesitate.
In the playoffs, every mistake is magnified. A single shorthanded goal can swing momentum, silence a crowd, or flip an entire series.
Credit: Jerome Miron. Martin Necas has been a bright spot on the power play for the Avalanche this season.
But if the Avalanche continue generating offense on the power play while tightening those defensive gaps, the equation becomes simple.
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A dangerous power play paired with elite five-on-five play makes Colorado one of the toughest teams in the NHL to beat.
And if history has taught us anything, it’s this:
Even Avalanche teams with flaws have found a way to win it all.
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