Gabriel Landeskog Sounds Alarm Over Avalanche’s Recent Play

Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog is a very blunt man.

After a disappointing 6-2 loss at the Nashville Predators in Music City, Landeskog was not happy. And for good reason, the Avalanche gave up two goals in the first period, three in the middle frame and one in the third period. Special teams efforts were weak at best — Colorado allowed the Predators to score four power-play goals.

"I don't know if it was difficulty generating offense, I thought we just sucked," Landeskog said via AltitudeTV on what exactly caused the difficulties during play against Nashville. "I didn't think we had a good start and we didn't have a good second and not that good of a third either. We weren't good enough."

The loss in Nashville has dropped the Avs to a 6-5-1 overall record.

"That's the hard part in this league — it's not easy to win games, it's not easy to win games consistently," Landeskog also said. "Part of it is a mindset. Part of it is communication. We've just got to play better [in] all facets of the game."

Though, there were a few highlights for Colorado; Artturi Lehkonen and Devon Toews scored, with Martin Necas tallying two assists.

The Avalanche have 13 points in the Central Division and are around the middle of the pack, with the Minnesota Wild leading with 18 points across an 8-3-2 record.

Avalanche Need Win Against New Jersey Devils

The Avs and Landeskog will now turn their attention to facing off against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 28.

This game comes on the heels of Team USA gold-medalist goaltender Connor Hellebuyck being traded to the Devils by the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 24. In exchange, the Jets acquired Dawson Mercer, Nico Daws, Nick Bjugstad and the rights to unsigned draft choice forward Alexander Command.

"For myself, I'm just really excited for hockey again," Hellebuyck said per NHL.com at Prudential Center on Saturday. "And I'm joining a very skilled group and I know that they're bringing me in for a certain specific role and I'm really excited to try to fill that role, not only on the ice, but off the ice as well."

New Jersey currently has a 7-4-0 overall record, good for 14 points in the Metropolitan Division.

"Really exciting day for the franchise," Devils General Manager Sunny Mehta said Saturday. "Awesome trade for the organization. Got to meet with Connor just a little while ago. Just can't say enough about how excited we are."