They were preseason favorites, but it took time for the Presidents’ Cup-winning Colorado Avalanche to hit their regular-season stride. If you’re just tuning in or looking back, here’s what you missed.

January — bumpy start

After a condensed, 10-day training camp, the Avalanche’s 56-game, division-only regular-season slate began Jan. 13.

A popular preseason pick to win the Stanley Cup raised eyebrows when it launched the campaign with a misfire — a mistake-filled 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Two nights later, the Avalanche beat the Blues 8-0.

January was filled with such highs and lows as Colorado found its footing. The Avalanche lost to two eventual West Division basement-dwellers in the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings, but put together a three-game win streak.

February — f

irst shutdown

The Avalanche became the fifth NHL team shut down as of Feb. 4 and postponed all games through Feb. 11. With Gabriel Landeskog and Tyson Jost among 40 players from 11 teams on the league COVID-19 list at the time, the NHL introduced new protocols.

Colorado restarted on time and the rescheduled games had them playing every other day the rest of the season save for one practice day and back-to-backs. A four-game series against the Vegas Golden Knights was a preview of the jockeying between the teams the rest of the season. Each team won two, and three of four games were decided by a goal.

The Avalanche and Golden Knights took part in an outdoor game Feb. 20 on the golf course at Edgewood Tahoe Resort. Bright sun created poor ice conditions and the second period was pushed to 9 p.m. local time. Samuel Girard, Nathan MacKinnon and Devon Toews scored to secure a 3-2 win for Colorado.

March — the best ever

Colorado took full advantage of a crammed but favorable March schedule that featured 13 of 17 games at home. The Avalanche polished their game and finished 12-2-3, setting franchise records for wins (12) and points (27) in a month.

The 2021 slate against the Arizona Coyotes was wild, highlighted by a 9-3 win March 31. Joonas Donskoi scored the second-fastest hat trick in franchise history at Ball Arena, which hosted a crowd for the first time in more than a year. MacKinnon later threw Conor Garland’s helmet back at him in a viral moment that drew a misconduct and a fine.

Goaltender Philipp Grubauer was named the West Division star of the month after going 12-2-1 with a .933 save percentage and 1.56 goals-against average.

April — clinch and slide

Four Avalanche players, including Grubauer and leading goal-scorer Mikko Rantanen, took turns on the COVID-related protocol list. That triggered a second shutdown in the middle of a four-game series against St. Louis. It lasted five days.

In the first game after the pause, Colorado beat the Blues 4-2 on April 22 to clinch a fourth straight postseason berth.

There was a drop-off after that emotional high as Colorado lost three straight games for the first and only time all year. It went on to win eight of nine to close the regular season.

On April 30, Grubauer and Rantanen returned from COVID protocol and had a 21-save shutout and three points, respectively, in a 3-0 win over the San Jose Sharks.

Colorado went down to its third-string goaltender during the 2020 postseason, part of a rash of injuries that hurt the playoff run. Would-be backup Pavel Francouz missed the entire season, so general manager Joe Sakic went shopping.

One particularly scathing review from The Athletic’s John Vogl followed goaltender Jonas Johansson after he was acquired from Buffalo: “The worst goalie I’ve seen during my 19 seasons covering the Sabres.”

Johansson benefitted from the move to a playoff-bound team. He went on to secure his first career shutout April 9. He posted a 5-1-1 record after the trade.

May — down to the f

inale

The Avalanche’s hopes of hitting a preseason goal — the best regular season in the NHL — took a hit with a 5-2 loss against Vegas on April 28. Even as Colorado had enjoyed success, the Golden Knights were never far behind. The Minnesota Wild were also on their heels until the final weekend.

Colorado closed in on the Presidents’ Trophy on May 10 in the tensest game thus far. Though the Golden Knights largely neutralized the league’s most productive offense, Colorado got a 36-save performance from Grubauer and a pair of goals from Andre Burakovsky and J.T. Compher and stole a road win at T-Mobile Arena.

Colorado controlled its fate after that. Compher scored his first career hat trick May 12 against Los Angeles and Tyson Jost scored two the next night as the Avalanche clinched first in the West Division and home ice throughout the postseason.

Colorado Avalanche clinch Presidents’ Trophy, home-ice advantage with win over L.A. Kings

Strong night from Andre Burakovsky helped keep Colorado Avalanche in hunt for first