Colorado Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews challenged his team to correct their sluggish starts after failing to score in the opening two periods against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.
The Avalanche have conceded the opening goal in four consecutive games.
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In their latest matchup, the Golden Knights secured a 3-0 lead by scoring twice in the second period and once in the third.
Toews addressed the recurring issue regarding the team's inability to establish early control on the ice.
"We haven't done a great job of getting out to leads early," Toews said.
"So, we're learning to play from behind, and we've got to start to try to take the lead a little bit more in these games, and put our foot down and put pressure on teams to try to attack us instead of us having to attack them."
Despite the opening defeat, the team maintains confidence in its ability to bounce back for Game 2 on Friday night.
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Forward Nazem Kadri pointed to the team's historical resilience during previous playoff challenges as a reason for optimism.
"Well, I know there's going to be a response," Kadri said. "There's no question about it.
I think even in the last series, when we lost Game 3, we responded in Game 4 (with a 5-2 win).
I think some people thought the sky was falling then, and we certainly believe we have a process that we stick to, and we're not going to waver from that."
Colorado has proven capable of avoiding extended slumps this season, having last suffered consecutive losses on March 16 and 18 against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Dallas Stars.
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Ahead of the next game, the team anticipates the potential return of defenseman Cale Makar to the lineup.
