Bednar: Avalanche were 'checking with our eyes' in loss to Ducks

Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar was exasperated by his team's lack of intensity after dropping a critical home game to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.

The Avalanche carried a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, but a three-goal second period sparked the comeback victory for a Ducks team playing their third game in four nights.

"We were checking with our eyes," Bednar told reporters after the game, including the Denver Post's Mike Chambers. "We got to check with our legs. We're supposed to be the rested team. We didn't win enough races. We didn't check the puck back enough. We build a lead and it looked like we got comfortable with it and just stopped working."

Colorado has now dropped five of its last seven contests and sits five points back of the final wild-card berth in the Western Conference. Bednar pointed to the team's lack of urgency and inability to learn from past mistakes as a reason for their late-season struggles.

"As a team, you can't continually learn the same lesson," Bednar said. "It just seems like we're learning the same lesson, over and over on our losses. I know our guys care but we didn't play an inspired game today, like we really needed it - like it was mandatory that we won. The urgency, for me, wasn't there."

With 11 crucial games left on the schedule, the Avalanche continue their playoff push Sunday when they host the New Jersey Devils.

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