So, there is a way to defeat the Colorado Avalanche.
Make them play with just 10 forwards.
That’s what happened to Colorado on Tuesday night against visiting Edmonton and the result was a 4-3 defeat that snapped the NHL-leading Avalanche’s five-game winning streak.
The Avs will look to start a new run Thursday in Seattle.
Colorado’s Ross Colton, who scored earlier in the game, took a hit midway through the second period and had to leave with an upper-body injury. Then Nathan MacKinnon, who leads the league with 43 goals, was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct at 19:25 of the second after a collision with Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram while driving to the net.
The shorthanded Avs erased a 3-2 deficit at 7:04 of the third period, but allowed a Connor McDavid power-play goal just two minutes later and couldn’t recover.
“Going (10) forwards for almost half the game is not easy, but it’s the hand we were dealt,” said recently reacquired Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri. “We tried to come back. I thought we had a good push, but at the end of the day, I think there’s a lot of things we could clean up.”
Colorado coach Jared Bednar concurred.
“That wasn’t a great night considering what we needed from our team against the Oilers,” Bednar said. “There’s some things that I really liked and some pushback that I liked from the team in the third period, but like for a full 60 minutes, it wasn’t our best. But I can’t single anybody out as like going through it right now. I think our guys are working hard.”
Bednar said he was hopeful Colton would return Thursday.
“He took a shot from a player during the game and then he kind of tightened up,” Bednar said. “So, he’s got an upper-body injury, and hopefully he loosens up … and can play in Seattle.”
This will be the second of three meetings in the regular season. Colorado won 5-3 on Dec. 16 in Seattle as MacKinnon had two goals and an assist and goalie Mackenzie Blackwood made 35 saves.
The Kraken, who remain in the Western Conference’s second and final wild-card playoff spot despite three consecutive defeats, are wrapping up a six-game homestand on which they’re 2-3-0.
Seattle outshot visiting Nashville 19-7 in the first period Tuesday in taking a two-goal lead, but ended up dropping a 4-2 decision.
“I thought we came out well, and then … our team hasn’t been in this position (fighting for a playoff spot) for a couple of calendar years,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “And we’re showing it a little bit right now. We have to sustain for 60 minutes.
“Right now it seems like, in a sense, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Lot of hockey left here, so we’ve got to find a way to dig ourselves out.”
Center Matty Beniers scored for Seattle and got into his first fight.
“Not too worried about what’s going on around the league,” Beniers said. “Just focused on us and trying to win hockey games. We do that, then things will take care of themselves.”
The Kraken hope that forward Bobby McMann, acquired last Friday from Toronto at the trade deadline, will be able to make his Seattle debut. McMann has been dealing with visa issues.
