The Avs were the road warriors of the Western Conference a season ago — a distinction that played a huge role in collecting a second straight Central Division title.
This season, the opposite is true. Colorado boasts the top home record in the NHL, but has struggled away from Ball Arena.
If the Avs are to win the Central a third straight time, they may need to lean on their home success to do it. And given the remaining schedule, that might be the most optimistic reason why it remains a possibility.
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar had no explanation when asked about the stark contrast in home/road results
“We’ve had a lot of discussion about this,” Bednar said. “It’s a fine line between winning and losing. Obviously we’re not playing as well or as consistently on the road as we are at home.
“It’s tough to figure out. When you look at all the numbers you’re looking at, there’s a lot of similarities.”
The Avs are 22-5-0 at Ball Arena this season. They have collected the most points and have the best winning percentage at home in the NHL, while also having played the second-most road games. Nathan MacKinnon also has at least one point in every home game, the second-longest streak to start a season in NHL history.
The road has not been as kind. Colorado is 13-13-4 in away games this season. That’s the worst road points percentage of any of the top 12 in the league standings. There are only 10 teams in the NHL that have lost more games in regulation than they’ve won away from home this season.
A 1-4-1 road trip after the NHL All-Star break amplified what has been an issue for months. The Avs won their first three away games to start the season, which helped set a new NHL record with 15 consecutive regular-season road victories.
Colorado has won three straight on the road one other time this season. The Avalanche has played at a 133-point pace over an 82-game season at home, and just an 82-point pace on the road.
It was the opposite story a season ago. The Avs won 29 times on the road, most in the West and second-best in the league.
The good news is the Avs have 14 of their final 25 games at home. And on paper, the remaining road schedule could provide a chance to finish above “hockey .500” away from home. Only four of the 11 games are against teams in the top 12 of the league standings — two trips to 11th-place Edmonton, one to league-leading Vancouver and the final road tilt is in Las Vegas against the defending champs.
The better news is the Avs have made Ball Arena a near-impenetrable fortress this season. Given that, plus Colorado being locked in a three-team battle for the top spot in the Central, finding a way to finish ahead of Dallas and Winnipeg would provide two significant benefits.
One, the Avs would be guaranteed home-ice advantage through at least the first two rounds of the playoffs. Two, they would not be staring at the possibility of needing to defeat the Stars and the Jets to get to the conference finals.
“Our division, these three teams are as good as you can get in our league,” Avs forward Andrew Cogliano said. “Strong defensively, can score goals, good goaltending. There’s no easy games against them.”
Having home-ice advantage did not matter for the Avalanche a season ago. The Seattle Kraken won three times at Ball Arena, including the decisive Game 7.
That was a different Avalanche team. This edition would likely feel a lot better about having a Game 7 at home, given how the 2023-24 season has unfolded.
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