LOS ANGELES — The Colorado Avalanche cruised past the Los Angeles Kings two weeks ago and was one of the hottest teams in the NHL.
A lot has changed since then, but parsing out how much concern to have about the recent middling performances is not easy.
A team that did not look very much like the one that defeated the Kings by four goals March 27 at Ball Arena lost to Los Angeles, 5-4, on Saturday afternoon at Crypto.com Arena. It was Colorado’s second loss in a row and its fifth in eight games.
The Avalanche did not have stars Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Devon Toews, who are resting this weekend and did not travel with the team.