Coach Jared Bednar is hopeful the Avalanche’s revamped line combinations will make a difference Saturday against Chicago at the Pepsi Center.
The GAME NOTES.
Matt Nieto will replace Gabriel Landeskog on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog, with Landeskog moving to the second line with Alexander Kerfoot and J.T. Compher.
Semyon Varlamov will start in goal.
“You look at guys like Kerfoot and Compher getting a chance to play with a guy like Landeskog,… Bednar said after an optional morning skate. “He can provide something that is much needed on that line -- a sturdiness, a heaviness to his game, some experience and communication on the bench and on the ice.
“Hopefully it works. Just briefly in Arizona we liked what we saw from this lineup and these combinations, and hopefully we can catch that same spark out of the few lines here tonight that we saw in Arizona."
Kerfoot has two goals and an assist in the past three games after going 13 games without a goal; he missed four games with an upper-body injury. Compher has two goals and two assists in a three-game point streak.
“Landy is a heck of a player,… Kerfoot said. “Whatever line’s he’s playing on, he’ll help them produce and help them be consistent. We’re lucky to play with him tonight. He’s very consistent in what he brings every night. You know what you’re getting out of him.…
The change wasn’t a complete surprise to Landeskog, considering the Avalanche are trying to end a three-game losing streak. They’re 3-7-1 in the past 11 games.
“We need to get on the right side of things again,… he said. “Whenever you’re going through something like this and you’re not getting the results, you have to find a way to get your swagger back and your mojo back.…
The Avalanche will be facing a Blackhawks team that has won four of their past five games.
Collin Delia will start in goal. He made 35 saves in his season debut, a 2-1 win against the Avalanche on Dec. 21, and he stopped 46 shots Thursday in a 5-2 win against Minnesota on Thursday.
“I thought he played really good in the game against us,… Bednar said. “We were firing on all cylinders, created a lot of chances, had some good looks at the net. The only thing is in that game we missed the net on some of our better opportunities, but he still made some big saves, some timely saves.
“We went over some of that stuff this morning on what we did offensively and how we want to try and repeat that and better that performance. The one thing we can do is make sure we’re taking the goalie’s eyes away a little bit more often on some of our scoring chances.…
The lineup:
Matt Nieto -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen Gabriel Landeskog -- Alexander Kerfoot -- J.T. Compher Sheldon Dries -- Carl Soderberg -- Matt Calvert Gabriel Bourque – Tyson Jost – Sven Andrighetto
Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson Ian Cole – Tyson Barrie Ryan Graves – Patrik Nemeth
Semyon Varlamov Philipp Grubauer