ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Avalanche are flourishing in the schedule they once fumed at.
Six months ago, the grim reality of the Avs’ Stanley Cup title defense started to set in. They realized they were dealt a grueling hand with five early back-to-backs. Cale Makar called it “ridiculous.” His teammates agreed.
Nine of Colorado’s 13 scheduled back-to-backs were against teams with a day of rest. But only four times would a rested Avalanche get to face an opponent that played the previous day.
The Avs turned their frustration into fuel, somehow.
With one (unscheduled) back-to-back remaining to end the regular season, the defending champs are 9-2-1 in the second game of a back-to-back, an NHL-best record to stick it to the schedule-makers.