Avalanche know they still have lots of work to do

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This article was published 25/04/2024 (530 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DENVER — Don’t expect the Colorado Avalanche to get cocky now that their playoff series against the Winnipeg Jets has shifted to their own backyard.

Sure, they’re feeling confident after two solid efforts in Winnipeg to earn a split. Yes, their 31-9-1 record at Ball Arena was the best home mark in the NHL during the regular-season.

It’s worth noting two of those regulation losses came at the hands of Winnipeg, including a 7-0 beatdown on April 13 that left a very sour taste in their mouths.

“We know how deep Winnipeg is. We know how we’re going to have to play in order to beat them,” coach Jared Bednar said following Thursday’s practice.

“This is a team that finish ahead of us in the standings. We consider ourselves a pretty good team. We know how deep they are. You have to have a full team commitment in order to win, and then you’ve got to go to and play your best hockey at the key times, which is now. Two games doesn’t cut it. It might take seven and we have to be committed to doing that.”

There could be a couple lineup changes coming for the Avalanche. Backup goaltender Justus Annunen, who missed the first two games with illness, is expected to be in the lineup. However, his services won’t be required if No. 1 Alexandar Georgiev can look more like he did in Game 2 (30 shots, 28 saves) than he did in Game 1 (23 shots, 16 saves).

“I talked about how proud I was of him after that game, but there’s been a lot of belief from our room that he’s got that within him,” said Bednar.

“You don’t have to back up very far to find where we were 9-1 coming out of the deadline and Gorgy was playing every game and saving above expected in all those games. It slipped away from us there for a little bit, but that’s the thing. You’ve got to find a way to turn it back around, he did in that game and our team did in that game.”

Defenceman Sam Girard, who is battling an undisclosed injury, also skated Thursday and would provide a blue-line upgrade if he can get in.

“We’ll just wait for him to make sure that he’s feeling right and feeling like he can go,” said Bednar.

With the benefit of last change and the ability to control the matchups, it would appear Colorado is going to load up on the top line by having Valeri Nichushkin on the top line with Nate MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Zach Parise had mostly been in that spot in the first two games.

The Avalanche have received plenty of depth contributions so far, with the likes of Artturi Lehkonen (2G, 2A), Miles Wood (2G), Josh Manson (1G,1A), Ross Colton (2A), Parise (1G) and Casey Mittelstadt (1G) supplementing the expected production from Cale Makar (1G,4A), MacKinnon (1G,2A) and Rantanen (3A).

“Nothing comes easy when you’re when you’re out there. Especially scoring goals, it’s the hard work from all five guys that will create an opportunity for someone,” Lehkonen said.

“We’re just focusing on ourselves pretty much. We know what we got to do to be so successful out there and just trying stick to the and we trust that the outcome will come.”

The Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2022 and certainly know the value of utilizing the full roster better than most.

If you want to advance in current playoff format, you have to be a four-line team. You have to get contributions throughout your lineup, not just your forwards but your D,” said Bednar.

“You’ve got to have guys waiting in the wings if there’s injuries. It’s just the way it is. When you’re playing teams that finished the same place you finished, or ahead of you, in the first round, you need everybody, and they’re doing a nice job so far in this series of contributing.”

Another thing Bednar hopes continues is his team’s work ethic, which he says is as strong as it’s been all year and has made life difficult for Winnipeg at times.

“When it comes to forecheck there’s details to our forecheck that I’m not going to share with you, but it’s all about work and skating, really, at the end of the day. Being predictable to where we know we want to put the puck in and what that looks like,” he said.

“When you take our 12 forwards as a group, that’s as hard and consistent I’ve seen them work all year, in the first two games. And so I think that’s really the key to having success on our forecheck, is the work they’ve put into that forecheck.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg