Avalanche analysis: What went wrong after collapse elicits tough questions for Colorado

DALLAS It took days for Chris MacFarland to piece together a historic remodel for a franchise with Stanley Cup aspirations It took a little less than minutes for a guy who was part of this band s core days ago to tear it all down There were smashed sticks in the aftermath There were red eyes There were thousand-yard stares into the abyss The Colorado Avalanche s season ended Saturday night The shock disappointment and pain from this one will linger longer than greater part A dream Challenge for almost minutes became a nightmare They were missing their best D and maybe their best forward and we still couldn t beat them Nathan MacKinnon stated shortly after calling it the largest part shocking loss of his career Yeah I don t know I don t know what we re going to do How did this happen How will the Avs move forward from this Every aspect of this collapse has two sides to it Any bit of analysis is this but also this Even when the emotions subside the cold logic-based autopsy is not going to be easy Definitive opinions based on the facts will be disputed Decisions will be tough to make Hindsight is and it s easy to sit here and say we should have done this we should have done that but I thought we deserved better to be honest with you Avs captain Gabe Landeskog declared It doesn t matter It s not going to change the fact I thought we played a hard-fought series and carried the play We just couldn t find a way We lose a couple in overtime and this one is obviously a heartbreaker An obvious place to start is special teams because the Avs were the better squad at -on- for much of the series Colorado went for on the power play The Avs had a power play at the end of regulation to start overtime in Games and One was four minutes long They lost both of those games That s what cost the Avs the preponderance in this series as much as the Event collapse But the Avs also had the No power play in the NHL from the day after they traded Mikko Rantanen until the end of the regular season And the second goal Saturday night was at -on- scored by the extra attacker It doesn t count as a power-play goal but spiritually at least it was I don t know Make better adjustments MacKinnon explained We had looks Not going in Yeah bad adjustments Logan O Connor of the Colorado Avalanche is pursued by Esa Lindell of the Dallas Stars during the second period in Meeting of their first-round playoff series at American Airlines Center on May in Dallas Texas Photo by Richard Rodriguez Getty Images The penalty kill was a big challenge Dallas scored seven times against it The Stars had three comeback wins in this series and the game-tying goal in all three was scored on the power play The series-winning goal power play But the PK also produced two shorthanded goals And one of the goals against was a fluky own goal after Mackenzie Blackwood lost his stick Special teams were a major factor in all our losses and it s special teams that were really good during the year even in the second half Avs coach Jared Bednar announced You re facing obviously a really dangerous power play which makes it tough and a strong penalty kill one of the best in the league too It s frustrating because you do a lot of good things for a lot of the championship and then you don t get it done in certain areas or it can be a different area each night that costs you There was questionable officiating at times in this series but that complaint cut both procedures The Stars had one more power-play opportunity over seven games The Avs had the only two four-minute power plays They didn t number on either Jack Drury was not happy with the penalty that led to the series-winning goal It was a penalty but the timing context will be debated by Avs fans for a long time That disclosed if Colorado wins Competition Stars fans would be doing the same about the questionable call on Jamie Benn that led to Nathan MacKinnon roaring off the bench and making it a - lead For nearly minutes Bednar out-coached his nemesis All of the questions since were close to disappearing until they weren t All of the trades looked great on paper when it was - Blackwood had rebounded from a rough Event and a so-so Match Brock Nelson had a slow start in this series but played well once Landeskog joined his line The fourth line with Drury in the middle was having another excellent match in an excellent series And then Rantanen changed everything He had four points in the final period points in the final three games and in the series He and goaltender Jake Oettinger are the two biggest reasons why Dallas is still playing and Colorado is not Related Articles Keeler Avalanche should thank coach Jared Bednar for his institution Then replace him with DU Pios David Carle Mikko Rantanen sends Avalanche home with legendary Event What you witnessed there was special Keeler Denver fans established up indicated out for Nuggets Avalanche Contest s Never root against us Mikko Rantanen s hat trick dooms Avalanche in brutal Meeting loss Avalanche-Stars Challenge slapshots Colorado collapse in Dallas could leave mark that lasts decades The four forwards who were in the Avs lineup Saturday night that arrived during the remodel Drury and Martin Necas in the Rantanen deal Nelson and Charlie Coyle just before the deadline in March combined for the same number of points as Rantanen had on his own Did the trades work The band was deeper more capable of making a deep run It was still going to be a toss-up first-round series with the Stars though And then the worst attainable way to lose happened Did the Avs wait a contest too long to put Landeskog back in the lineup Should Valeri Nichushkin have been put back on PP Why didn t the Avs punish an awful start in Meeting by the Stars more And why did the drop-off in play later in that contest happen Everything requirements to be examined It just sucks It really sucks Landeskog stated Just wasn t ready to stop playing to be honest Love this group Love the band we have Love the fight we keep showing time and time again It just wasn t our night tonight and therefore we re done How do the Avs find a way back from this What s next for this group No idea Bednar announced I m not even thinking about that yet How the Avs do think about it in the coming days and weeks and the answers they find to certain tough questions will have lasting short- and long-term ramifications An offseason that felt far away early in the third period Saturday night is now here and it ll be a big one Oskar Back of the Dallas Stars is checked by Gabe Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche during the first period in Battle of their first-round playoff series at American Airlines Center on May in Dallas Texas Photo by Richard Rodriguez Getty Images Want more Avalanche news Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis