Morale takes beating as Avalanche drop Game 4 to Stars

— Colorado failed to forecheck throughout the game. Their bread and butter has become to put pressure on the opposing team and they were not doing that tonight. Dallas was beating them to the puck and then out skating them. Having to dump and change was not helping, either. By the time the Avalanche were gaining possession of the puck, it was the end of the shift and time to change. This was leading to them chasing Dallas in the offensive zone from the start of the shift to the end of the shift. The one time Colorado did forecheck, it led to Casey Mittelstadt’s goal.

— Caleb Jones may not be the option if Toews is still sick in game five. Jones was plus one only because he was on the ice during Mittelstadt’s goal. But he had two penalties that cost the Avalanche momentum and Dallas converted on the penalty. The Avalanche may need to go with a more offensively minded defenseman like Same Malinski. He would bring some play that is like Cale Makar in style, as well as some aggressiveness to the blue line. 

Conclusion

The Avalanche will need to learn to play without the efforts of Valeri Nichushkin in the lineup. Yes, he brings a lot to the table, but Colorado needs to adjust and quickly. Drouin can bring some offensive power back to the lineup, but not in the same way that Nichushkin did. Drouin will have to use his speed and snapshot to his advantage. Failure to make the adjustments for these two will doom the Avalanche to an early exit. They will head to Dallas on  Wednesday for game five and try to avoid elimination.