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MacKinnon, Bernier eager to start |
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Rick Sadowski
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Center Nathan MacKinnon returned to practice Tuesday after taking Monday off and is eager to get going against Nashville when the first-round series starts Thursday.
“Feel pretty good,” MacKinnon said. “Rest day, long season. We played a tough game Saturday, so I took an extra day off. We don’t play until Thursday, so I took advantage of it.”
The Avalanche clinched the second wild card playoff berth in the Western Conference with a 5-2 win against St. Louis on Saturday.
“It's what we play for,” MacKinnon said. “We want to give ourselves a chance to win. It took the last game to get in, we got in, and anything can happen now. We're excited for the challenge. Obviously it's not going to be easy against the Presidents' (Trophy) winning team. We just have to play our game and let them respond to us.”
MacKinnon was an 18-year-old rookie in 2013-14 when the Avalanche previously were in the playoffs. He had 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in their first-round, seven-game series loss to Minnesota.
“Mentally, I’m a better player than I was four years ago as a rookie,” he said. “I feel like my game’s grown a lot and I’m ready for whatever happens. It's nice to have a second time in the playoffs, so it's not totally new.”
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Blake Comeau didn't practice for the second day in a row. Coach Jared Bednar said he's "a little banged up," has been taking treatment and "should be good to go" Thursday.
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Jonathan Bernier probably didn’t expect to be starting Game 1 of the playoffs when he signed as a free agent last summer, but this is the case as Semyon Varlamov has been ruled out of the series with a knee injury.
“I played against them last year, they're a great team,” Bernier said. “(Bridgestone Arena) is a really tough building to play in. I'll try to share that with the guys, that it's very loud. You don't think Nashville would be tough to play in, but in my opinion, it's probably the toughest building to play in.
“We worked hard all year to get where we are. We deserve to be in the playoffs. We went through a lot of adversity this year, with injuries and things like that. I really believe that we deserve to be where we're at right now. Now we just have to show what we can do in the playoffs.”
Bernier made 32 saves Saturday in the Avalanche’s playoff-clinching win against the Blues in his fourth start after missing three games with an infected cut on his hand. He finished with a 19-13-3 record with two shutouts, a 2.85 goals-against average and .913 save percentage.
“I’ve felt better and better each game when I came back, and obviously felt really good last game, so I want to keep that groove going into the playoffs,” he said.
While Bernier has played parts of eight NHL seasons, he’s only been in five Stanley Cup playoff games, four of which came last year with Anaheim. The Ducks lost in six games to the Predators in the conference finals.
“You can’t control nerves and the excitement for the first game, but everyone settles after,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you have 100 games of experience, you’re always going to be excited for the first game. We have a young team with good legs, that’s our strength so we have to use that.
“Everyone in this room had playoffs in previous leagues. It could be junior or college or whatever, so most of the guys in this room have had big moments in their career. You have to reflect to those moments and remember how it felt. Yes, this is a bigger stage, but you just have to calm yourself down and say it’s another game.”
What do the Avalanche need to do to pull off a first-round upset?
“Just focus on our game,” Bernier said. “We have speed. They’re a veteran team and they’ve been through a lot, going far in the playoffs last year, so they know what to expect. For us, we’re the underdog. I think we just got to almost embrace that and take advantage that we have no pressure. If we play the way we played against St. Louis with a lot of speed, we should be in good position to win.”
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The Avalanche will practice Wednesday afternoon at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
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