NEWARK, N.J. — Unexpected hiccups or weaknesses have a tendency to overshadow a team’s positives early in a season, especially in the court of public opinion regarding a defending champion that’s supposed to click into place automatically.
So it’s natural that the Avalanche’s slow start in the penalty kill was more of a focal point than the other side of the special teams equation.
The power play numbers are becoming difficult to ignore, though. Colorado (4-2-1) is unstoppable.
Heading into Thursday’s games, there have been 773 power plays in the young NHL season. The league-wide power play scoring percentage is 19.