This wasn't exactly how the Avalanche wanted to open a five-game homestand, by far its longest to date. The previous longest: two games.
They kicked it off Saturday with a slow start and sloppy play in the final minute of the second period that ultimately led to a 3-2 loss to Calgary.
Making matters worse, captain Gabriel Landeskog is facing supplementary discipline from the NHL for his cross-check against Matthew Tkachuk late in the first period. He was assessed a minor penalty and Flames defenseman Dougie Hamilton scored on the ensuing power play for a 1-0 lead.
Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog will have a hearing tomorrow for cross-checking Calgary’s Matthew Tkachuk.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) November 26, 2017
The Avalanche can't afford to lose Landeskog, but he's considered a repeat offender, having been suspended twice in 2015-16 (two games for a check to the head, three games for a cross-check).
He's off to a strong start with 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in 22 games and has been a key contributor on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.
I'm not going to suggest any of this is an omen of bad things to come, as in last season's 0-4-1 homestand at the same time of year, after which the Avalanche dropped off the proverbial cliff on the way to a disastrous finish.
But a win on Wednesday against Winnipeg in Game 2 of the homestand would go a long way in allaying those fears.
"We got to bounce back," coach Jared Bednar said after the game. The Avalanche were off Sunday after playing three games in four nights. "I'm confident in our guys that we'll bounce back here. It doesn't guarantee anything.
"We've got to get back to work and we have to look at that game and address it as a team and why it happened and try to move forward from it." Bednar said his players looked tired and will welcome the rest they'll get before Wednesday. But he pointed out that the Flames, like the Avalanche in Minnesota, played in Dallas on Friday and were ending a six-game, 12-day road trip, so no excuses.
Goalie Jonathan Bernier said as much.
"I thought we should have had the advantage," he said. "We were in bed pretty early (Friday) night, they were still playing when we got home. They are obviously a good team, but I thought we could have been a little more hungry."
Rantanen tied the game 1-1 with a power-play goal at 14:32 of the second period, but the Flames made it 3-1 when Micheal Ferland and Mikael Backlund scored 22 seconds apart in the final minute.
The Avalanche closed to 3-2 when Nikita Zadorov scored with 2:54 to play in the third, but they didn't get another shot on goal against rookie goalie David Rittich, who had 24 saves for his first NHL win.
"We just weren't committed and willing to play the right way in order to get the job done," Bednar said. "Especially when you don't have your legs it makes it more important that you have to do the right things with and without the puck.
"We had half our guys doing that and some of the other guys went off on their own. What it turns into is sloppy hockey and turnovers all over the place and scoring chances against."