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MacKinnon moves back to center without Duchene and Mitchell |
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Rick Sadowski
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The Avalanche practiced Tuesday for the first time since claiming the Central Division title with 112 points in preparation for Thursday night's opening playoff game against Minnesota at the Pepsi Center.
Centers Matt Duchene (knee) and John Mitchell (concussion), and defensemen Jan Hejda (upper-body injury) and Cory Sarich (back) didn't practice. Duchene might miss the entire first-round series, Mitchell is doubtful for the first two games and coach Patrick Roy said he expects Hejda will play Game 1.
Duchene sustained an MCL injury to his left knee March 29 against San Jose and missed the final eight regular-season games. The Avalanche said at the time that he would miss about four weeks. "I think we’re at three weeks (now)," Roy said.
Mitchell missed the last two games after getting hurt last Thursday in Vancouver.
"I’m not sure yet," Roy said of Mitchell's status. "We’ll know more in a few days, but he looked better every day. I’m confident he’ll play somewhere in the playoffs."
Defenseman Tyson Barrie sustained an upper-body injury Friday on a hit by San Jose's Jason Demers and didn't play in Sunday's game in Anaheim, but he said he felt "100 percent" after practicing Tuesday and will play Thursday.
"Took a big hit there and felt a bit off," he said. "In the last few days, no issues. Felt 100 percent all through today. I think originally, (I was) definitely a bit out of it. It seemed to get better that night. The next day, felt pretty good. The next day, I felt really good. (Monday), felt 100 percent. Today, same thing. No symptoms. I did all the tests and there doesn't seem to be any lingering effects. I'm excited to be available for Game 1."
This how the lines and defense pairings were at practice:
FORWARDS
Ryan O’Reilly-Nathan MacKinnon-PA Parenteau
Gabriel Landeskog-Paul Stastny-Jamie McGinn
Cody McLeod-Marc-Andre Cliche-Max Talbot
Paul Carey-Brad Malone-Patrick Bordeleau
DEFENSE
Nick Holden-Erik Johnson
Nate Guenin-Tyson Barrie
Andre Benoit-Stefan Elliott
Goalie Semyon Varlamov will start, of course, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere will be the backup.
Roy said putting Nathan MacKinnon in the middle is "something we're going to start with." He added: "Is it going to stay that way? I'm not sure. It brings some speed in the middle, which I like. I think it's good to have that option for us."
MacKinnon spent most of the season as a right wing and led all NHL rookies in scoring with 63 points while playing in all 82 games (Patrick Bordeleau is the only other Avalanche player to play in every game). MacKinnon and Tampa Bay's Tyler Johnson each had 24 goals to lead all rookies, and MacKinnon had the most assists (39).
"I'm excited," MacKinnon said. "I'm very comfortable playing center, it's my natural position. With the three of us, we're going to do a good job. We like to move the puck, (use) give-and-go plays."
There will be more of an onus on MacKinnon without Duchene, who led the Avalanche in scoring with 70 points (23 goals, 47 assists) in 71 games.
"It's exciting," MacKinnon said. "With Dutchie out, it puts a lot more pressure on everyone else. We have tons of good forwards, not just me they're going to be paying attention to. I think it's good if they key on one guy; we have other guys to step up. We're a deep team."
MacKinnon was a big-game player for the Halifax Mooseheads, especially in the Memorial Cup championship series last year. He was named MVP after leading Halifax to the title with seven goals and six assists in four games against Portland. In all, he had 11 goals and 22 assists in 17 playoff games.
"Obviously I've only been in playoffs in junior," he said. "I guess I've been pretty successful. Made it to third round my first year, then won everything last year. I've played a lot of hockey over the past year. (The Stanley Cup playoffs) is a new experience, for sure. Watching it growing up, I've seen the pace pick up. It's obviously faster, more intense.
"We're in this together now, a lot of the guys haven't been to the playoffs before. At the same time, we have some vets who have won Cups. Hockey is hockey. It's going to pick up, going to be very tough out there, intense."
The Avalanche doesn't have a ton of playoff experience, but Max Talbot said this could be a good thing.
"Yes, we have guys who might not have a lot of playoff experience, but they'll be ready," said Talbot, who's played in 77 playoff games and scored both Game 7 goals in 2009 when Pittsburgh defeated Detroit 2-1 to claim the Stanley Cup. "Sometimes it could be good for us not to have playoff experience because they'll go out there and they'll just play. We have some guys that won Cups (Giguere and Sarich are the other players), but I think it's nice to have a little bit of a mix.
"I love the group we have. We have a good mix of experience and leadership and youth with no (playoff) experience at all. Sometimes inexperience will give guys without fear and they'll go out and play and enjoy the time. That's how we've been playing this year, without fear."
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