Not every Avalanche fan was pleased Sunday when Mikhail Grigorenko scored with 28.8 seconds remaining in regulation to give the White team a 1-0 win against the Burgundy at the University of Denver's Magness Arena in the annual intrasquad game.

"I guess the fans weren't too happy about that, they probably would have loved to see overtime," said Grigorenko, who was in the slot when he knocked the rebound of defenseman Sergei Boikov's point shot behind goalie Spencer Martin.

"The guys in front gave me a good screen and I was high guy. The rebound came out and the goalie was out of the net."

Grigorenko spent most of the game centering a line with Gabriel Bourque on the left and Rene Bourque on the right. While the Bourques, no relation, are in camp on professional tryouts, Grigorenko is a lock to make the roster, though it probably won't be as a center with Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene and Carl Soderberg on board.

The 6-3, 209-pound Grigorenko spent time in the middle and on the wing last season following his acquisition from Buffalo in the Ryan O'Reilly trade. He wasn't as consistent as then-coach Patrick Roy would have liked, but there were flashes of excellence and he finished with six goals and 21 assists in 74 games.

"I'm comfortable playing both positions," Grigorenko, 22, said. "I was happy with my faceoffs today, I thought I did pretty good in the faceoff circle. That's a huge aspect of the game playing in the middle.

"As the game went on I got better. It was tough, first game in five months, new systems and both teams trying to play the same way. You have the same meetings and stuff, so it's different. Personally, I felt good in the middle."

First-year coach Jared Bednar liked what he saw.

"He's been a natural center, he's a big guy," Bednar said. "Whenever you can have size up the middle, it's a good thing. With all the centers that are gone for the World Cup and the way we're going to experiment with some guys and give some guys a look, it's easier to go from center to the wing than the other way around."

Grigorenko played more wing last season than he had previously and said he'll be happy to play wherever the coaches want.

"With a few injuries and guys being out of the lineup, I needed to adjust to that and I liked playing wing," he said. "Now I think I can play both positions and I think the coaches know that I can play both positions. I think that's good for me. Hopefully we're not going to have a lot of injuries, but if it happens I'll be more than happy to play any position."

Turned out to be quite a weekend for Grigorenko. The Avalanche announced later that his wife, Amelie, gave birth to the couple's second child, Anna, on Saturday.

Congrats!

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Bednar's impressions of Sunday's game:

"I thought it was a good game. I thought the guys played with a good level of intensity playing against their own team. It got a little chippy at times. From the defensive side of things, the structure and what we've been putting in place the last couple days, I thought the guys were paying attention and being real aware, maybe a touch cautious. But there were still some good scoring chances. I just think we didn't capitalize on them when we had them."

Burgundy forward Travis Barron had the puck on the right side and was staring at an open net with 6:14 to play in the third period, but he whiffed on his shot.

Goalie Calvin Pickard played the first two periods for the Burgundy team and made 16 saves. Martin had six saves. White goalies Jeremy Smith (eight saves), Kent Simpson (seven saves) and Nathan Lieuwen (six saves) each played one period.

Bednar said it was important to play plenty of prospects and those signed for the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL and Colorado Eagles of the ECHL, giving him another opportunity to familiarize himself with them.

"To see the young guys and where they're at is really valuable to the organization," he said. "To see them play against NHL guys mixed in, how do they handle the pace of play, what's their execution like, what are their strengths and weaknesses ... that's really important."

Tyson Barrie, Francois Beauchemin, Blake Comeau, Jarome Iginla, Cody McLeod and Fedor Tyutin didn't dress ... Bednar said that Erik Johnson and Nathan MacKinnon will practice Monday after getting a few days off to rest following their World Cup games ... Gabriel Landeskog and Carl Soderberg will get some time to travel and rest before joining their Avalanche teammates on the ice following Team Sweden's 3-2 overtime loss to Team Europe in Toronto in a World Cup semifinal.

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The lone fight took place at 11:54 of the third period when the White's Jeffrey Truchon-Viel won a decision from Burgundy's Josh Anderson. They were smiling at each other from the penalty boxes.

Truchon-Viel, who is 6-0 and 192 pounds, is a camp invite. He had 33 goals, 23 assists and 132 penalty minutes last season with Acadie-Bathurst in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Anderson, who is 6-2, 225, was a third-round pick (No. 71) in June. He had one goal, five assists and 86 penalty minutes in 39 games with Prince George in the Western Hockey League. He missed the second half of the season to recover from a fractured vertebra.



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