"It looked like we were cheating the game": HC Jared Bednar extremely critical of Colorado Avalanche's terrible 6-2 loss to Islanders
The Colorado Avalanche are facing a tough start to the season, sitting at 0-3-0 for the first time in 16 years.
The Avs' 6-2 defeat against the New York Islanders on Monday marked their poorest performance yet this season. Despite scoring the first goal, it was the lone bright spot in an otherwise challenging evening for the team.
The game showed significant struggles for the Colorado Avalanche, highlighting the areas that need improvement moving forward. HC Jared Bednar addressed the team's struggles in a postgame interview.
Bednar acknowledged that the team has a lot of work to do to get back on track. He said:
"I think tonight it looked like we were cheating the game. You have to play the game the right way to have success. If you're trying to cheat it for offense, then things aren’t going to look good defensively. I don’t want to say that’s the only scenario because we struggled with the puck, struggled to make plays.
"We made a lot of soft plays, we were delayed on some of the plays we were making—it was too slow. There was a lot wrong with it, so it’s hard to narrow it down. I can go through the first couple of games and tell you exactly what I didn’t like or did like. Today, it was pretty much everything," he added.
Meanwhile, it was a memorable moment for Patrick Roy as the New York Islanders coach. He returned to Colorado for the first time since stepping down as the Avs head coach in 2016-17.
Roy spent eight seasons as a player and three as a coach with the Colorado Avalanche, guiding them to two Stanley Cups in 1996 and 2001.
How New York Islanders beat Colorado Avalanche
The New York Islanders secured their first win of the season after beating the Avalanche 6-2. Casey Mittelstadt and Calun Ritchie were the scorers for the Avs.
Brock Nelson netted twice, while Matthew Barzal, Anthony Duclair, Andres Lee, and Kyle Palmieri scored one goal each for the Islanders.
Ilya Sorokin was solid between the pipes, making 33 saves with an SV% of .943. Meanwhile, Alex Georgiev had a 32-save contribution and a .865 SV% for the Avalanche.
The Colorado Avalanche host the Boston Bruins at Ball Arena on Wednesday. The puck drops at 9 p.m. ET.