Along with changing their mindset for Friday’s rematch with St. Louis, vowing to put in a better effort than they did in their 4-1 loss to the Blues in Wednesday’s season opener, the Avalanche will rework the top two line combinations.
Gabriel Landeskog will move back to the first line with
Nathan MacKinnon and
Mikko Rantanen, and
Andre Burakovsky will drop to the second line with
Nazem Kadri and
Brandon Saad. Burakovsky, who scored the lone goal, will play right wing and Saad will move to the left side.
Here’s the
NHL.com GAME RECAP
The second line had an especially rough time: Kadri was minus-4 with one shot on goal and a cross-checking penalty that ended an Avalanche power play, Saad was minus-3 with no shots in his Avalanche debut, and Landeskog was minus-3 with four shots and a tripping penalty.
“They were directly responsible for a couple of the breakdowns that led to goals,” coach
Jared Bednar said Thursday after overseeing what he described as a “hard working, focused” practice that followed a video session. “They also were on the ice and were doing the right things on at least one other goal when we turned it over. They weren’t great last night. I expect them to be a lot better.”
As for the line changes:
“I like the net presence that Landy brings to the MacKinnon line when they have possession in the offensive zone,” Bednar said. “He sets up shop in front of the net and we noticed we were lacking that a little bit last night. Second, we like Burakovsky on the right side and we wanted to move Saad over to his left side so he can play on his forehand to see how he does after last night’s game.”
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NHL Player Safety announced that Blues forward
Sammy Blais has been suspended two games for his elbow against
Devon Toews at 4:43 of the first period. Toews left the ice, was able to return and logged 22:17 of ice time, second on the Avalanche behind
Cale Makar (24:10). Blais had a hearing Thursday.
“I’m fine,” Toews said after practice. “The league has their protocols to keep players safe, they do their due diligence and I’m grateful I’m fine. The game happens so fast and things happen so fast, I’m fortunate that I’m feeling good.”
Blais was given a minor elbowing penalty and the Avalanche took advantage 12 seconds later when Burtakovsky scored on the ensuing power play.
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Matt Calvert isn’t wearing a pink visor for style points. He said it helps filter out the bright arena lights, which can be troublesome for one who has had concussions.
“It’s basically like wearing blue light glasses at night or in front of screens in that it limits the exposure,” he said. “There’s bright lights in the building, so anything that can help.”
Turns out, he missed all seven games against Dallas in the Western Conference semifinals because of a concussion issue.
“Yeah, I guess,” Bednar said. “If he’s kind of mentioned that to you, then I guess so.”
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