The Colorado Avalanche were back on the ice Thursday for the first time since dropping two disappointing road games on back-to-back days.
At 5-4-1 through their first 10 games, the Avs know they can be better. Consistency has been an issue early in the season, and while head coach Jared Bednar isn’t ready to panic, he wants to see his team get back to playing the way it should. He’s making that message clear to his players.
“It’s not about the couple wins or couple losses. It’s just about how we want to play, what we want our game to look like,” Bednar said. “Just to summarize the season, we’ve had trouble putting together full 60 minutes. And slow starts or periods off. But when we’re good, we’re really good, and looking exactly the way I want us to look.
“So you kind of start talking about getting a full 60 together and some of the things that we want to do, and then we go out and lay an egg for two games, right? It’s regroup time, go back to what we were trying to do before these two games and that’s play to our identity.”
Kadri’s Workload Continues to Climb
Nazem Kadri has taken on a heavier workload in recent games, playing more than 20 minutes in six consecutive contests after starting the season in the 17-minute range.
Bednar credited Kadri for earning his ice time but acknowledged that Colorado’s 11-forward setup has also contributed to the increased workload. Kadri has primarily played on the wing on the second line while occasionally centering the fourth line, allowing the Avalanche to roll four lines without overtaxing Nathan MacKinnon.
Kadri, meanwhile, isn’t reading too much into the team’s recent struggles.
“I think they’ve been completely their own thing,” Kadri said of the last two games. “I think even the games we’d lost prior to that, I felt like we deserved to win. So I feel like we should be sitting here with a better record, but the last two games, we’re gonna flush them.”
The 36-year-old veteran forward has seven assists in 10 games. He has yet to score a goal as he continues to work through a scoring drought. Kadri has 27 shots on goal to date.
O’Connor Set for Season Debut
The Avalanche will get Logan O’Connor back in the lineup Friday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He’ll make his season debut after missing the first 10 games because of a preseason injury and a personal leave after the passing of his father.
To make room for O’Connor’s return under the salary cap, Colorado sent forward Gavin Brindley to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles.
The move leaves the Avalanche with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, the same roster configuration they’ve used for most of the season. Bednar said the team is considering calling up a 12th forward before Friday’s game.
To accommodate another call-up, the Avs would likely need to place Zachary L’Heureux on long-term injured reserve retroactive to his injury date. That would require L’Heureux to miss at least 10 games, meaning he would have to sit out five more after missing Colorado’s last five contests. He’s currently sidelined with an upper-body injury. The last update from Bednar noted that L’Heureux is further out from returning.
Roy Skates Before Practice
Nic Roy was also on the ice Thursday, working with skills coach Mark Popovic before the rest of the team joined. Roy wore a red non-contact jersey but left before the full practice began.
Bednar ruled Roy out for Friday’s game but said the team would reassess his status ahead of Sunday’s matchup.
Roy has missed the last four games with a lower-body injury.
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