Your Avalanche just couldn't find the summit against Dallas.

Well, if you went to bed early last night thinking you'd wake up to a Colorado Avalanche win, you’re probably feeling a little bit like you missed a sunrise you’d been planning for. It was a tough descent at Ball Arena, with the Dallas Stars squeaking out a 2-1 shootout victory over your Avs. Cale Makar, in true Makar fashion, put us up 1-0 in the first period on the power play, thanks to some slick work from Nazem Kadri and Nathan MacKinnon. That goal just found the line, a perfect shot. But then Dallas’s Jason Robertson tied it up in the second. From there, it was a battle for every inch of ice, like a late-season scramble up a fourteener. The shots favored the Avs heavily, 34-18, showing we were pushing, but Jake Oettinger for Dallas was just solid. Then, in the shootout, Wyatt Johnston sealed it for the Stars.

This one stings a little, especially at home. You never like to drop points to a Central Division rival, even if it's just one. With 98 points, the Colorado Avalanche are still firmly atop the Central, but this loss, even in a shootout, reminds you how tight the competition is. We've gone 6-3-1 in our last ten, which is good, but you always want to be building momentum, not just maintaining. The guys have a couple of days to regroup before heading out on the road. The mood in Denver today feels a little like a cloudy morning after a big storm – you know the sun will come out, but you’d rather be hitting the trails than dealing with the aftermath.

Altitude hockey — the air is thin and the Avs are here. Vanny out.

Want more of this? Keith and the gang are already breaking it all down at mornings.live.