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If Avalanche players are jittery about their playoff series with Minnesota headed for Game 7 at the Pepsi Center, they did a good job of hiding it Tuesday.
Much of their attitude likely stems from coach Patrick Roy, who said the Avalanche played well despite Monday's 5-2 loss at the Xcel Energy Center -- the final two goals were scored into an empty net -- and that he was looking forward to playing Game 7 on home ice.
"We know we played a good game," he said. "This is very positive to me. I'm going to show them the good things we did, and we certainly want to see us repeating those things and more, and show them what didn't work well for us. This is very positive. It's a great experience for these guys.
"All year we battled hard, all year we wanted to have that home-ice advantage and we surprised the world of hockey by finishing first in our division, and today we receive the benefit of it. We're playing Game 7 in our building in front of our fans. How exciting is it for Denver not having playoff hockey for four of the last five years and now you're involved in a Game 7? The fans are going to bring a lot of energy to the building and to our players. They're going to play a major role in the start for our team."
The home team has won each of the first six games.
Roy said it probably is fitting that this series would come down to a seventh game.
"If I look at the big picture, we were almost the best two teams in the last stretch of the season," he said. "It's normal what we're seeing so far, seeing both teams going into a Game 7."
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The return of center Matt Duchene from his knee injury gave the Avalanche a boost. It didn't take long for Roy to put him on a line with Ryan O'Reilly and PA Parenteau. He played nearly 19 minutes and had an assist on a power play that went 1-for-18 in the first five games without him.
"It was normal for him to be a little bit rusty, but I thought he was outstanding," said Roy, adding he was mostly happy with his team's forechecking and defensive-zone coverage.
Duchene said Tuesday that he isn't 100 percent, and he's wearing a brace on his knee, which he injured March 29 against San Jose.
"Personally, lots to build on," he said. "I'm still not 100 percent comfortable, but I think that will come with time. It's a big game tomorrow, the kind of game you grow up dreaming about. You want to leave it all out there for sure. For me, I'm taking it as a personal challenge, a mental challenge more than anything.
"Physically, I would have to take another pretty big hit to hurt it again. It's pretty healthy. At this point, it's trying to play through that cautiousness, maybe that hesitation. I still had a bit of it last night at times and it's something I want to work out of my game as I go. It's not going to happen one game, going to take a few. It's a good challenge for us as a team. We should take it on with excitement."
Duchene said he will draw on his experience with Canada's gold medal-winning Olympic team to help prepare for Wednesday.
"A great piece of advice I got before I played my first game of the Olympics was there's no way your body isn't going to be ready for the game," he said. "You don't have to waste time and energy, thinking, 'OK, am I going to be ready?' You're going to be ready. All you have to do now is dial it in and relax. Trying to bring yourself down is actually more important than bringing yourself up. Everyone is going to be up. We all live and dream to play to be in these games. It's a special opportunity for us. I'm really excited."
Duchene's presence should take some of the pressure off the Gabriel Landeskog-Paul Stastny-Nathan MacKinnon line. Stastny scored a short-handed goal Monday, but the others have collected all their points at home.
"It definitely sparks us and adds some energy and some fresh blood in the lineup and some fresh energy," Landeskog said. "On our power play he's huge. He's so skilled on the half wall with Ryan and so shifty, so certainly that will be good for the power play."
O'Reilly scored most of his career-high 28 goals this season on a line with Duchene and couldn't be happier about being reunited with him.
"Playing together all year, when we got paired back together it was nice," he said. "When we’re out there together and he’s got the puck I kind of know where he’s going, know where to find him. When he gets it, me and PA have that feeling we know what he’s going to do with it and it opens a lot of room out there. We had a little bit of success and hopefully going into Game 7 we’ll have more.
"He’s one of the best players in the game. Coming back, he’s mentally tough and his intelligence of the game, you know he’s going to come back and be a factor. To see him jump in like that and pick up and start creating stuff, it’s exciting for us. Hopefully he can maintain it."
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Max Talbot has played in far more playoff games (83) than any Avalanche player, and his experience includes four Game 7s. He scored both goals in 2009 when Pittsburgh defeated Detroit 2-1 in Game 7 to win the Stanley Cup.
"It was never about what I did," he said. "I was lucky enough to perform, but what I remember is I was having fun, I was focused and I wanted to make a difference."
Talbot said he would talk to any teammates who ask for advice, but in the end he said it's still a hockey game.
"It's definitely intense emotions," he said. "Game 7, you know that everybody's watching. I feel like it's a little bigger stage. You have to take it in. Every Game 7 I've played, you remember the guys that scored the goals, you remember little plays -- the saves and the blocked shots, the things that made you win this game, made you move on to have a chance at the Stanley Cup.
"What makes Game 7 special is it's a do-or-die game. One team's going to go home and play golf. You do your best and you work hard not to lose this game and not to go home early. I think we've been good under pressure the whole season. The guys have reacted well, we've been great in the playoffs at home. It's going to be fun."
Talbot said it's only human to feel a little nervous, but it's one he actually cherishes.
"That's the coolest thing about hockey," he said. "As much experience as you have, you have to take these butterflies and turn them into excitement and energy, and that's definitely the feeling I have right now. It's an opportunity to take that experience and win a series and move on and have a chance to win the Stanley Cup.
"It comes back to 'why not us?' It started with three simple words at the start of the year. This is fun. The more you do it, the more it builds in your mind that we are that kind of team, a team where someone still step up. The more you do it, the more you believe and the more you believe, the more it happens again."
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Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov was playing for Washington in 2009 when he backstopped the Capitals past the New York Rangers in a seven-game first-round series. He played the last six games after replacing Jose Theodore, which included a 2-1 win in Game 7. He was replaced by Theodore in an eventual 6-2 loss to Pittsburgh in Game 7 in the second round. The Penguins went on to win the Stanley Cup with Talbot aboard.