Avalanche confident – Nazem Kadri says the Colorado Avalanche won’t waver after a series-opening setback to the Vegas Golden Knights, and coach Jared Bednar points to film review, tactical tweaks, and a history of bouncing back. Colorado outshot Vegas 38-28 in Game 1, but lost 4-2
DENVER – Nazem Kadri has lived through enough playoff chaos to recognize the shape of a gut punch the moment it lands.
A Game 1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights still stung, but when the Colorado Avalanche returned to their practice facility Thursday, the vibe wasn’t panic. It looked more like a team that misplaced a charging cord than one that had its season short-circuited.
Kadri was as blunt about the stakes as anyone. After an optional skate and a not-so-optional video session, he insisted the response is coming.
“I know there’s going to be a response, there’s no question about it,” Kadri said.
He pointed to what happened in his last series as a reminder that bounce-back isn’t a hope in this building—it’s a habit.
“I think even in the last series, when we lost Game 3 (in Minnesota), we responded in Game 4. I think some people thought the sky was falling then, and we certainly believe we have a process that we stick to, and we’re not going to waver from that.”
That confidence has teeth because it matches how the Avalanche have behaved in the regular season’s long grind. Only once in the last three-and-a-half months have the Avs lost two straight games. Colorado went wire to wire atop the league standings as Presidents’ Trophy winners. and Kadri made it clear he doesn’t see the early-series misstep as a reason to abandon that identity.
Asked why he was so confident the team would rebound in Game 2 on Friday—set for 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT—Kadri didn’t dress it up.
“Well, we’re a good team,” he said.
“I think we have full confidence in our capabilities. and I don’t think that really wavers depending on if you win or lose. especially early in the series. I felt like we did a lot of great things last game. a little bit sloppy at times. but felt like we did enough to win the game. But credit to them, they stole one. Now we’ve got to respond.”.
If there was a single line that summed up Game 1, it was that one: Vegas didn’t beat the Avalanche—they stole one.
Colorado outshot Vegas 38-28 and generated ten more high-danger scoring chances, 23-13. Yet in Wednesday’s 4-2 shocker, the Avs couldn’t solve game star Carter Hart.
“We missed the net on a couple of our really good ones, which doesn’t help,” coach Jared Bednar said.
Bednar’s other key detail was the output that followed: the Avalanche found the net on fewer than 80 of their shot attempts.
“But I was happy with what we produced. I thought their goalie played well. I think we got into the net-front areas at times in that game for deflections, rebounds, that kind of thing enough.”
Even with Hart standing tall, Bednar felt Colorado created enough—but not clean enough.
“I think we can create more if we execute a little bit better, and I think there’s a handful of plays in the game where I felt like we gave them easy scoring chances. I didn’t think we’d made them earn their chances that were the difference-makers in the game.”
In other words, Colorado beat Colorado in the sense that a lot of the damage traced back to itself—fixable mistakes, not a wall Vegas built from scratch.
That’s why the avalanche of film work Thursday mattered. Bednar said after the game it was the team’s “history” that fed his belief Game 2 would look different, especially after a video breakdown showed where the Avs could improve.
The staff showed players the good, the bad, the repeatable, and the correctable—how they’ve operated all year. Expectations are high in Denver. and the review is part of how the team stays sharp: one mistake gets addressed. another player will face a similar scenario later. and the response is supposed to look the same.
Kadri spoke to that shift in perspective after seeing it on film.
“Once you see it on film, I think it gives you a bit of a different perspective,” he said.
Offensively, Kadri believed the Avalanche dominated in Game 1. Defensively, he wanted the team tighter.
“Offensively, I think we dominated the game, and defensively, I think we’ve got to tighten up some things, which we will.”
The concern is whether Colorado can do that with the lineup in the shape it wants. There’s an injury question hanging over Game 2: Cale Makar skated with the team Thursday morning, but the team provided no update on his status for the next game.
Still, Bednar signaled what worked late in Game 1. He liked his lines better in the third period when he promoted Artturi Lehkonen to Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog’s top trio.
That move didn’t just change names on paper—it moved pieces where they needed to be. Martin Necas played with Brock Nelson and Valeri Nichushkin, whose redirect helped put the Avs on the board in the third.
Kadri said he’ll keep getting bumped into the top six as needed, the same way he was in late Game 1. But he also played down the idea that one speech—or one dramatic gesture—turns the series.
“I know our team, and I know our goals, and I know the mindset of our group, so it’s not like I’m going in there and giving some speech that’s going to turn the series around, or get it going in the right direction,” Bednar said.
Bednar also seemed comfortable with the approach to goaltending, saying it was “pretty pointed” what the team needs to do and that motivation is already there for every player.
“It’s pretty pointed on what we need to do and what we think we can do. The motivation to play is there for all of our guys. It’s about us going and trying to be the best version of ourselves that we could be. because we weren’t last night. We still had a chance in that hockey game, and we feel like we can be better than that.”.
Bednar also indicated the team could start Scott Wedgewood again.
Game 2 isn’t a must-win. It’s a must-respond. And for a club that only rarely has to deal with back-to-back losses, the Avalanche appear ready to treat Wednesday’s 4-2 result as something they fix—rather than something they fear—before the puck drops again Friday.
Colorado Avalanche Vegas Golden Knights Nazem Kadri Jared Bednar Carter Hart Scott Wedgewood Cale Makar Nathan MacKinnon Gabriel Landeskog Artturi Lehkonen Martin Necas Brock Nelson Valeri Nichushkin NHL playoffs Game 2