Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie was suspended three games Saturday night by the NHL for his second-period hit against Anaheim's Simon Despres in Friday's 3-0 Colorado win. The Ducks placed Despres on injured reserve because of an upper-body injury.
I understand the suspension -- Barrie wasn't penalized during the game -- but three games seems a bit much for a guy who hasn't been in trouble before and is anything but a dirty player.
Wonder of Brandon Gormley will finally get a chance to play Sunday against the Kings. Barrie also will miss the Avalanche's two-game homestand against Carolina and Columbus.
Colorado's Tyson Barrie has been suspended three games for charging/interference on Anaheim's Simon Despres. Video: http://t.co/jGYIYuHg8H
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) October 18, 2015*****
The Avalanche (2-2-0) practiced Saturday at the Kings facility in El Segundo, Calif., in preparation for Sunday's game at the Staples Center.
No surprise, but the Denver Post reported that Reto Berra will be in goal again after his 35-save performance against the Ducks, and I really like the line changes coach Patrick Roy made for the game while keeping the Nathan MacKinnon unit intact:
Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Alex Tanguay Mikko Rantanen -- Matt Duchene -- Jarome Iginla Blake Comeau -- Carl Soderberg -- John Mitchell Cody McLeod -- Mikhail Grigorenko -- Jack Skille
Rantanen had four shots on goal after switching places with Comeau, whose grinding style is more suited to third-line duty. Mitchell moved from fourth-line center to Soderberg's line (replacing Borna Rendulic, who was scratched) and scored for the fourth game in a row (albeit an empty netter).
Grigorenko made his Avalanche debut and had an assist on Skille's second-period goal, though he only played 6:19.
Roy also made some defensive changes. The Francois Beauchemin-Erik Johnson pairing remained, but Nick Holden skated with Barrie, and Nikita Zadorov was paired with Nate Guenin. Brad Stuart and Gormley were scratched. Hoping Gormley gets to play now that Barrie is out for three games.
Despite the win, the Avalanche spent an awful lot of time in their own end. Aside from Berra's 35 saves, the Avalanche blocked 41 shots, a staggering number. The Ducks, who have scored one goal in four games, missed the net on 16 other shots.
MacKinnon, who opened the scoring 53 seconds into the game, blocked six shots. Beauchemin blocked five, and Holden and Johnson each blocked four. Five others had three blocks.
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Beauchemin, who spent parts of nine seasons with the Ducks, played his first game in Anaheim since signing a three-year, $13.5 million contract with the Avalanche as a free agent. He received a nice ovation when his image was put on the videoboard.
"It was fun," he told reporters. "It was exciting. Obviously it’s always a little special to come back here and play in that building and this city. The fans had a nice ovation for me there. It was a class act by the team just to put that on the board again."
The Avalanche wanted to play a much stronger game after getting drilled 6-2 by Boston on Wednesday.
"We just wanted to focus on what we had to do to get better in our game," Beauchemin said. "We wanted to get better defensively. Giving up six goals at home was a little bit embarrassing, so we wanted to make a big statement and come here and have a good 60 minutes, which we did.…
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The Kings (1-3-0) picked up their first win Friday with a 2-1 overtime win against Minnesota.
“It's huge,… Kings center Jeff Carter told reporters. “The first three games were pretty rough for us. Just to get that one under your belt, you take a big sigh of relief and move forward and keep building on it. I thought we did a lot of good things tonight and it wasn't easy. We really had to work for what we got. It's a huge two points.…