All of the new additions have improved the ceiling of this Colorado Avalanche team, but Tuesday night showed the floor has been raised as well. The Avs have played several great games in the past month. That wasn’t one of them. It was a solid effort. Head coach Jared Bednar said the team lacked so me energy, which can happen with the first home game after a road trip. And yet, Colorado brushed aside a team fighting for its playoff life with relative ease in a 5-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings. “Sometimes you don’t have your legs, so you’re playing very simple,” Avs forward Jonathan Drouin said. “It was kind of a professional game. We played our game but didn’t really create that many chances. We played the game that was in front of us, and it worked out.” The Avalanche has shown its Stanley Cup contender bona fides, ripping off an 11-1-1 run since Valeri Nichushkin returned to the lineup and general manager Chris MacFarland made one final foray into the trade market with a flurry of deals before the deadline. Colorado has dominated Dallas and Toronto, two clubs with championship aspirations. The Avs crushed Ottawa, which had recently won six in a row to solidify its playoff spot. But the newfound depth has been important when the Avalanche doesn’t have its ‘A’ game, and the points keep piling up because of it. That was the case in Calgary, when the Avs won despite no points from Nathan MacKinnon or Cale Makar. It showed up again Tuesday night, when the Avs’ top guys did produce, but the overall performance was just good, not great. When Colorado was besieged by injuries or poor goaltending earlier this season, there were nights when a B or B-minus performance was going to be a loss, even against teams that aren’t very good. The standard for the Avs is higher now. The goaltending is far more consistent. Mackenzie Blackwood allowed a goal six minutes in on Detroit’s second shot on goal, then settled in for another quality start — his 21st for the Avs in 30 outings. His .700 quality start percentage would rank third in the NHL, behind only Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck and Minnesota’s Filip Gustavsson among goalies with 30 starts if his time in San Jose is excluded. The club’s defensive play has been consistent for most of the season, and the newfound depth at center in particular has magnified Colorado’s ability to suppress shots on goal and scoring chances. Brock Nelson is a solid two-way player, while Charlie Coyle and Jack Drury are the type of strong defensive players coaches love to deploy in tough situations. Even when the Avs weren’t flying around and dominating the puck like they did during the previous road trip, there were plenty of clean breakouts and effective plays to get out of danger. The best form of defense in the NHL is retrieving the puck and keeping it out of the defensive zone, and the new-look Avs have excelled for large stretches at that. Colorado leads the NHL in goals against per 60 minutes during this 11-1-1 run, and the Avs are third in shots allowed per 60. “We talked about our segment seven (games 61-70) and how much improvement we made on the defensive side of things,” Bednar said. “Breakouts, managing the puck on our half of the rink. We’ve got some really good numbers and information that matches the eye test. Related Articles Avalanche keeps rolling, breezes past Red Wings team on playoff bubble Avalanche’s Ross Colton has rebounded from funk, found niche as playoffs near Avalanche collapses late but prevails in shootout on wild night in Montreal Avalanche Journal: What are the fatal flaws that could fell the West’s top contenders? Grading The Week: Avalanche great Cale Makar on pace to break more of Cale Makar’s records “We’re pretty happy with the way it’s going.” Footnotes: Colorado signed a pair of undrafted college free agents Wednesday. The Avs added Cooper Gay, a 6-foot-4 forward from St. Thomas, and Isak Posch, a 6-foot-3 goalie from St. Cloud State. Gay, who turned 23 earlier this month, had 19 goals and 30 points as a junior this season. He attended the Avs’ development camp this past summer. Posch had a .923 save percentage in 22 games as a sophomore this season. Both players signed two-year entry-level contracts that begin in 2025-26. The Avs have had success with undrafted college free agents recently, most notably Logan O’Connor and Sam Malinski, as a way to add young talent to backfill after trading away several draft picks and prospects. Want more Avalanche news? Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis. ...read more read less