Avalanche's struggling top line called out by HC Jared Bednar after scrappy win versus Senators

After suffering two heavy defeats against the Islanders and Bruins, the Colorado Avalanche made a strong comeback with a hard-fought 5-4 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday to extend their winning streak to five games.

Despite missing several key players, the Avalanche offense has been impressive this season. However, coach Jared Bednar expressed his dissatisfaction with the performance of the team's top line against the Senators.

In a post-game interview, a reporter pointed out that top players had been carrying the offense throughout the season but questioned Bednar about their lackluster performance despite scoring five goals.

Bednar acknowledged that while the top line was dangerous at times and contributed crucial goals, their overall performance hasn't been up to par. He said (5:50):

"They were dangerous all over the ice at times, and they got us some big goals. It just wasn’t an amazing game by those guys. They all did good things, but they were fighting it a bit, mostly on the execution side.

"I think there were plays to be made through the first 40 minutes that we didn’t see or execute. That can frustrate skilled players because you’re seeing opportunities to create good scoring chances, but the play never gets to you."

Bednar added by emphasizing the need for the team to pick up pace, especially after coming off a road trip. The statement from the Colorado Avalanche's coach underscores the team's potential and the expectations placed on their top players moving forward.

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Ottawa Senators coach reflects on defeat to Colorado

Avalanche

Senators coach Travis Green reflected on the defeat to the Avalanche with disappointment, noting that the team struggled and didn't play well despite a strong performance from their goalie.

After the game, Green said (via NHL.com):

"We didn't play good enough to win. Our goalie gave us a great game. I thought physically, we didn't play well enough, but he gave us a good enough game to give us a chance to get a point. But mentally, we weren't very sharp either. We made some mistakes that more or less led to three goals."

The Senators are languishing at the bottom of the Atlantic Division with eight points and are 24th overall in the standings. Meanwhile, the Avalanche (5-4-0) moved to fourth in the Central Division and 14th overall in the league standings following their fifth straight victory.