Avalanche HC Jared Bednar doesn't mince words on 5-2 loss to Capitals

Modified Nov 16, 2024 07:07 GMT

The Colorado Avalanche suffered a 5-2 defeat to the Washington Capitals on Friday at Ball Arena, ending their three-game win streak. Connor McMichael led the Capitals with two goals, while Jakub Vrana, Jakob Chychrun, and Rasmus Sandin also contributed to the scoreline. Charlie Lindgren made 17 saves to help secure the victory for Washington.

For the Avalanche, Parker Kelly and Nikolai Kovalenko found the back of the net, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Capitals. Justus Annunen struggled, allowing three goals on six shots. He was replaced by Trent Miner early in the second period for his NHL debut. Miner made 12 saves, keeping the game steady in relief.

Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar was disappointed after his team’s 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals on Friday. In the post-game press conference, he said the game showed missed opportunities and poor play from his team without mincing his words.

"No excuses," he said. "It was definitely an off night. I mean, we didn't. In its simplest form, it looked like we were second to the puck all night, and our execution was not good. I mean, we had a tough time stringing together two passes."

Bednar focused on unforced mistakes as the main problem. The first Capitals goal came after a turnover on a power play. The second and third goals were also the result of giveaways.

"Turnovers on first goal was a shot from the point of the power play. Second goal, turnover, third goal, turnover. And most of them unforced, like just so. And that's just the ones that ended up in the back of our net."

On offense, the Colorado didn’t create many chances. Bednar mentioned that the team struggled with passing.

"On the offensive side, we didn't create a whole lot because we couldn't put any passes together."

Expand Tweet

Bednar made it clear that there were no excuses for the loss and that the team would need to address these issues to avoid another poor performance.

Colorado Avalanche's recent turnaround

After a sluggish start to the 2024-25 season, the Colorado Avalanche turned around their record in the last six games. They have won four out of their last six games making it 9-9-0 for the season. They are 4th in the Central Divison with 18 points.

The Winnipeg Jets are holding the first position in the Central Divison with 30 points and 15 wins, followed by the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars on 25 and 20 points. The Avalanche will have to bounce back after the loss to the Capitals to keep their playoff hopes strong.