1. Shots on goal
As I said earlier, the Avs aren’t exactly making their goaltender’s life easy, allowing 32.6 shots on goals a game, good for seventh most in the league. And at this point, that’s pretty much par for the course.
Last season the Avs allowed 33.2 shots a game (fifth most in the NHL), and since the start of the 2009 season, Colorado has only given up less than 31 shots a game once.
What’s more alarming, though, especially on a team that is marketed as having a boatload of young offensive talent, is that the Avs haven’t been able to supplement their lack of defense with a potent offensive attack over the last two years.
The Avalanche currently sit at 29th in the NHL with only 24.2 shots on goal a game, which is already worse than the 27.9 shots on goal they got up last season (27th in the NHL). Though the Avs were able to turn minimal shot attempts into goals in 2014, that hasn’t been the case these last two years.
Colorado needs to start controlling the puck better, limiting possessions for the opposing team. This is a team-wide issue, and it’s going to need a team-wide solution.
