The Colorado Avalanche has hit a snag on its potential climb to the top of the Central Division, and the most surprising part is what’s currently the biggest issue.

When the Avs stumbled to a 14-13 start, there were two obvious culprits: the goaltending and the injuries. When Colorado has struggled in recent seasons, it’s often been a lull in the performance without the puck.

But an unlikely obstacle has popped up after this Avs team looked ready to take off with a 10-2 run and two new goaltenders. The Avs, the team with three of the best players in the world, suddenly can’t score.

Or, to be more precise — the offense has become the most inconsistent part of the club.

Colorado is 5-4-1 in 2025. The Avs have poured in six goals against two of the three teams ahead of them in the Central Division (Minnesota, Dallas). They handled the defending champs (Florida) in a complete effort.

The Avs have also been held to one goal or less four times this month — all losses, the latest being a 3-1 decision Monday night at home against the Wild, which was missing its best player (Kirill Kaprizov) and two of its top-three defensemen.

It wasn’t just the four losses. The Avs needed crazy comebacks to beat a bad Buffalo team and the New York Rangers, a performance that Jared Bednar heavily chastised despite collecting the two points. The other loss included not scoring in the final 52 minutes after grabbing a quick 3-0 lead.

A surface-level look doesn’t reveal any red flags. Colorado is sixth in the league in goals per game. Given the injuries, that feels pretty good.

Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL with 74 points. Mikko Rantanen is sixth with 63. Cale Makar leads all defensemen with 52.

Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen are both scoring at 40-goal paces. Ross Colton’s full-season pace is nearly 35. Jonathan Drouin is one point shy of one per game.

That all sounds good. Just get everyone healthy and … offense goes boom, right?

Maybe not. The power play has been an obvious concern for six weeks, with just seven goals in the past 20 games.

The Avs aren’t generating enough at even strength though, either. And they aren’t getting shots on goal at nearly the rate they have in recent seasons.

Colorado is 10th in the league in shots on goal per game at 29.4. The Avs are 16th in January, though the dip is only to 28.5. From 2020-24, the Avs had the second-most shots on goal at 33.9 per game — and the second-most goals scored.

The Avs have been held to 27 or fewer in six of the past nine games. And those late surges are obscuring that the offensive output in the first 50-plus minutes just wasn’t good enough.

They had the final 11 shots on goal against Minnesota … after the Wild took a 3-1 lead and had a 25-11 advantage at one point.

Colorado is fifth this season in shot attempts per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Avs are just 11th in the past nine games, and they’re 14th in shots on goal per 60 in that span.

The Avs, even in the 2021-22 season, have never been an elite team at generating 5-on-5 expected goals.

Having some of the best players in the world makes it possible to outperform expected goals models.

And a lethal power play helps, too.

They have been consistent in recent years though — averaging between 2.58 and 2.68 expected goals per 60 over the past three seasons. This year, the Avs are at 2.4, which is tied for 21st with Buffalo.

Limit it to the past nine games, and they’re down to 2.14 and all the way down at 24th, in between Ottawa and San Jose. Even having a potential MVP, potential Norris Trophy winner and one of the best wings in the world playing for a new contract can’t cover all of this up (and those guys shoulder some of the blame on the power play).

Would getting healthy up front help? Sure. Depth production has been a huge problem, and having a full complement of forwards would move a couple of guys down the lineup to improve the depth.

When Casey Mittelstadt plays well, like against Dallas and in Minnesota, this offense can cook, even without Nichushkin. When he doesn’t, the Avs too often look like a one-line team.

This isn’t all on the forwards, either. When Samuel Girard was injured, it was clear the Avs desperately needed him back. Now that Sam Malinski has been in Bednar’s dog house the past few games, it’s pretty clear that the Avs need him to play like he did earlier this season, as well.

Makar and Devon Toews are arguably the best pairing in the league, but this Avs team needs both of the Sams to help generate offense at even strength when one or both of the top guys aren’t out there.

It might sound crazy, given the recent history of this club, but the Avs’ biggest need in the defense corps might not be another guy who plays like Josh Manson, but rather another puck mover like Girard and Malinski.

The team defense has been solid much of the season. The goaltending has improved by leaps and bounds.

If the Avs want to make a deep playoff run, the key might be unlocking a more consistent offensive attack. There are obvious solutions that can help, like fixing the power play and getting the forwards healthy.

But there might be more to it than that. Bednar likes to use an analogy involving fixing holes in a boat.

Offensive consistency is a surprising hole, but it’s something the Avs need to remedy.