If last season with the Avalanche was a dream for Jonathan Drouin, the start to this season has to feel like a bit of a nightmare.

It’s not that he hasn’t been productive. Drouin’s producing at nearly one point-per-game. The problem is you can almost count on two hands the number of games he’s been able to play.

Late in the second period at Las Vegas on opening night, Drouin took a hit along the boards from Golden Knights defenseman Nicolas Hague. It was the kind of hit that happens every night in the NHL, but it derailed Drouin’s season. The 29-year-old winger has played in 12 of Colorado’s 45 games, including Colorado’s 3-2 overtime win over the New York Rangers on Tuesday. The lingering issue is to his rib area, a source told The Denver Gazette.

If fans are annoyed with his inability to stay in the lineup consistently, imagine how Drouin feels.

“Frustrating, long and boring a little bit,” Drouin said. 

Drouin, who set a career high in points with 56 last season with the Avalanche, hasn’t been able to find his groove yet this season. His return from injury in November lasted just four games before he exited the lineup again for more than a month. On Colorado’s most recent road trip, Drouin was not able to play against the Chicago Blackhawks in the first game of a back-to-back

As much as he’d like the injury to heal, it doesn’t sound like that’s coming in the near future.

“Every injury kind of lingers, but this one’s going to linger for a bit, I think,” he said. “Hopefully it turns the corner quicker than I hope. I feel good. I don’t feel like I’m playing at 40%. I can play, just some days where it’s still stiffer than others and it’s just okay to let it calm down rather than piss it off again.”

Drouin said the issue at this point isn’t just one thing, but three — pain, movement and flexibility. After missing so much time, he finally hit a point where he knew it wasn’t going to just magically heal.

That’s when he decided it was time to get back into the action.

“There’s so many things we can do now to kind of mask it for a couple of hours,” he said. “I can fight through it. It’s something that’s tolerable and playable. Unless I break my leg or something really breaks in half, I’ll be playing as long as I feel good enough to play and help my team.”

Colorado still has 12 games left until it takes a break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, a break that Drouin is very much looking forward to.

“Hopefully by that time I feel even better so that break gets me to 100%,” he said.

Avalanche 3, Rangers 2

What happened: Some wins are pretty, but some wins are really ugly. This was one of those wins. The Avalanche only managed to pull out the victory because their goaltender kept them in the game all night. Devon Toews was the hero again, scoring his second overtime goal of the season.

What went right: Very little, but Colorado’s penalty kill came up huge in overtime to keep the game going after Mikko Rantanen was given a soft interference penalty.

What went wrong: It was a struggle most of the night for the Avalanche, so it’s very difficult to point out just one issue. They were particularly careless with the puck, which led to a lot of high-danger chances against that Mackenzie Blackwood had to be ready for.

Quite a few of those turnovers came off the stick of defenseman Sam Malinski, who has struggled for a while. He has just one point in his past 30 games and was benched for the majority of the third period.

Casey Mittelstadt’s struggles continued. He found himself on the fourth line by the time the third period rolled around. Coach Jared Bednar probably would have benched more players if he had the choice.

“Ultimately, it’s like we only had half a team playing,” he said.

Avalanche goal scorers: Kelly (5), Lehkonen (16), Toews (6)

Rangers goal scorers: Carrick (4), Edstrom (4)

Between the pipes: Can’t pin this one on Blackwood, who faced at least four breakaways. He stopped 27 of 29 shots and was really the only reason the Avalanche won.

“He was fantastic. He was the best player on the ice for either team,” Bednar said.

What’s next: The homestand doesn’t get any easier as Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers will come to town on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.