The Colorado Avalanche weren't able to take care of business on Tuesday night in the Windy City, falling to the lowly Chicago Blackhawks by a 3-2 final score. It was Tyler Johnson who broke a 2-2 stalemate in the third period with his 7th goal of the season.
And afterward, it was defenseman Devon Toews who took the rest of his teammates to task for not doing enough in his mind.
"I think we got some guys that think they're playing well, and I think they're kidding themselves at this point," Toews said. "It's frustrating to play out there when you got guys that think they're playing well, and you have no idea what play they're gonna make or where they're gonna be on the ice.
"It's tough to play in this league when you don't know where your teammates are gonna be."
Toews, who played nearly 30 minutes in regulation on Tuesday night, also called out the effort that he saw on the ice against Chicago, who had won only nine games prior to their win over the Avalanche.
“It’s our awareness of what it takes to win hockey games,” Toews said. “That’s the difference, having guys in this room self-aware that it takes 60 minutes, a hard game play to play against any team in this league. I don’t care who we’re playing. This league is so good. It’s hard to win any night against any team in this league. You have to show up.
"We’ve got guys in here who aren’t showing up right now.”
The Avalanche will have the chance to get back onto the right side of things when they bring in the struggling Ottawa Senators to Ball Arena in Denver tomorrow night. Ottawa is in the midst of a horrific slump right now, and could prove to be just the ideal opponent for the Avalanche to get some of their swagger back.
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