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Not exactly a great preseason start |
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Rick Sadowski
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Things can’t get much worse this preseason, I guess that’s one way to look at it.
A 7-0 loss Saturday in Minnesota leaves the Avalanche 0-2-0 heading into Monday’s game in Las Vegas; they’ve been outscored 12-1.
Reality check:
Of the 20 players the Avalanche dressed against the Wild, only five are locks to make the roster: goalie Philipp Grubauer (who allowed all seven goals on 33 shots), defenseman Samuel Girard, and forwards Tyson Jost, Alexander Kerfoot and Colin Wilson.
“Last night it was a pretty tough lineup,” coach Jared Bednar said Sunday after two more group practice sessions. “(The Wild were) coming into their fourth game and we’re … lots of guys are playing their first game, know what I mean?
“So it was difficult circumstances, but you’re kind of looking to see who can make some plays, who’s going to the right areas in the right spots.”
Bednar said forward Sven Andrighetto and defenseman Mark Barberio were scheduled to play but didn’t because of nagging injuries. Defensemen Patrik Nemeth and Nikita Zadorov are wearing regular jerseys in practice after each had shoulder surgery in the offseason, but they haven’t been medically cleared to play.
The Avalanche are being cautious with right wing Mikko Rantanen, who’s had a muscle strain, and defenseman David Warsofsky hasn’t been on the ice because of an undisclosed health issue.
“We’re just kind of running short on numbers, so we’re taking a good look at these young guys so we know what we have,” Bednar said.
Bednar has liked what he’s seen of Vladislav Kamenev since his recent criticism of the young forward for his lack of “pace,” and he said he “really liked” how Girard and Wilson played Saturday.
“Some of the kids, I think it’s good to see them against NHL talent,” he said. “A young guy that did an OK job for us was Kamenev. He made a couple plays. You’re just trying to see what those guys can do together and sort of try and mix some of those guys with our veteran guys at some point.”
Bednar said of Kamenev: “I liked his last practice and last night he did some good things. Today’s practice again I thought he did a nice job. It looks like he’s starting to feel a little bit more comfortable, a little bit quicker. We're just trying to keep pushing him out of his comfort zone, so he gets a little more aggressive and (has) a little more sandpaper to his game.”
Bednar said “mostly kids” will play Monday against the Golden Knights. Kerfoot, J.T. Compher, Matt Calvert, Matt Nieto and Carl Soderberg also are scheduled to play.
The Avalanche will have a morning skate at Family Sports in Centennial on Monday before leaving for Las Vegas. They’ll be off Tuesday, have a morning skate at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday before playing Dallas, then make enough roster cuts to get down to one practice group.
“It might be an extended group so we can keep some guys around and mix them in, but we’re definitely going to try and cut it down,” Bednar said. “For now we have to stay with two groups for the next two games.”
* Grubauer was shaken at practice Sunday when forward Martin Kaut fired a shot that hit him on the mask. Grubauer moved away from his net and was hunched over for a bit, but he appeared to have recovered and looked fine after in the locker room.
* The AHL Colorado Eagles open their camp Monday.
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