The Colorado Avalanche suffered an embarrassing loss to the league-worst Vancouver Canucks at home on Wednesday night, 8–6. Despite the scoreline suggesting it was a close and fun match-up, it was far from that.

In fact, this was the most goals Colorado has given up all season long. It was also the most goals Vancouver has scored in a single game all season. The meaningless win for the visitors snapped their own embarrassing six-game winless streak.

View From the Mountaintop

Ultimately, Wednesday’s game was embarrassing for the Avalanche, who fell behind early and never got back into it. There were five goals scored in the first period, but not all five by Colorado, as they did on Monday against the Calgary Flames. They were down by one after 20 minutes, then down by three after 40 minutes. Vancouver didn’t even play its best game in a nothingburger of a matchup. At the bottom of the league and eliminated from contention, the Canucks simply wanted to play spoiler – and did just that. Despite the Avs’ best efforts in the third, it wasn’t enough.

Mackenzie Blackwood gave up six goals on just 19 shots. Jared Bednar stated after morning skate that he’d like to rotate both goalies in the postseason. However, after Scott Wedgewood entered in relief and only gave up one goal, it appears it may be his net to lose. He’s proven time and again that he’s been the guy in big games this season. Whether he’s started or entered in relief, Wedgewood has been great and the man to turn to. If Blackwood still cannot get a save as he did in this game, his path to keeping the net full-time becomes much more difficult.

Ultimately, the goaltenders weren’t all to blame for the loss. There was not much help ahead of them defensively. Of course, Cale Makar was out because of an upper-body injury, but he should be back for the playoffs 100% healthy. However, the defensive collapses without him were shocking. The blue line depth was already a question mark, and this game didn’t help their case. Nick Blankenburg played 11:08 and struggled against the Nucks in his place. It was not ideal for the team’s seventh defenseman.

The Quebec Nordiques jerseys returned for the penultimate time this season. However, at this point, they may be a curse. In seven games, they’ve gone 2–3–2. The high-scoring game for both teams saw Brock Boeser score a hat trick. For the Avs, Sam Malinski scored twice, including the game-tying goal in the third, for the first multi-point game of his career. Nathan MacKinnon also recorded his 50th goal of the season. Parker Kelly inched closer to 20 career goals with another tally. Brent Burns and Gabriel Landeskog also found the twine, with Burns also notching an assist. Finally, both Devon Toews and Valeri Nichushkin had two apples, with Brock Nelson, Jack Drury, and Josh Manson also having assists.

Up Next

Colorado plays the Dallas Stars for the final time in the regular season. Their chance to clinch the division will have to wait with the loss. Puck drop on Saturday is at 1:00 p.m. MT.