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Close to full healthy lineup for G1 |
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Rick Sadowski
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Nathan MacKinnon said he felt good after practice Sunday and is set to play Monday when the No. 1 seed Avalanche face the No. 4 St. Louis Blues in Game 1 of the best-of-7 Stanley Cup First Round at Ball Arena.
The star center, who had 65 points (20 goals, 45 assists) in 48 games, missed the final two regular-season games and four of the final five with a lower-body injury.
“Obviously (needed) to take care of some little things,” MacKinnon said. “It was nothing major, I just wanted to be healthy come Game 1, so got some rest, some good treatment, feeling good.”
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The schedule:
Home games in CAPS, all MT
Mon., ST.LOUIS, 8 p.m.
Wed., ST. LOUIS, 8:30 p.m.
Fri., at St. Louis, 7:30 p.m.
Sun., at St. Louis, TBD
*Tue., May 25, ST. LOUIS, TBD
*Thur., May 27, at St. Louis, TBD
*Sat., May 29, ST. LOUIS, TBD
*If necessary
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The return of MacKinnon and Brandon Saad, who missed the final 11 games with a lower-body injury, will give the Avalanche close to a full lineup for the first time in a while.
Forwards Matt Calvert and Logan O’Connor remain out, defenseman Erik Johnson is a longshot to play if the Avalanche go deep in the playoffs, and goalie Pavel Francouz won’t play until next season.
“Listen, I'm proud of the way the guys have worked this year,” captain Gabriel Landeskog said. “We have had (313) man games lost to injury, two COVID breaks and lost key guys at different times of the season. You miss EJ basically the whole year, Calvy a big part of the season, and we found way to put ourselves in this position.
“We're excited that we're healthy now and have a lot of guys coming back, but it's not going to change much for us. We know what the goal is and we know what we have to do when we step on the ice. Having said that, it's exciting having guys back in the lineup."
Coach Jared Bednar didn’t address the media Sunday, but defenseman Conor Timmins practiced and was paired with Patrik Nemeth after sustaining an undisclosed injury Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings.
Defenseman Bowen Byram also practiced wearing a pink-tinted face shield, presumably to make the bright arena lights appear dimmer; he hasn’t played since March 25 because of an upper-body injury, though the Avalanche hasn’t said he had a concussion.
The Avalanche went 5-3-0 against the Blues, who could be without leading scorer David Perron due to COVID-19 protocols.
“Obviously he’s a sniper, he’s a great player, but nothing changes for us,” MacKinnon said. “We’re just trying to play our best as possibly as we can on both sides of the puck. Whoever has the puck for them we’re going to track hard and play ‘D’ very hard, so whether that’s Perron or somebody else we’re going to give respect to everybody on their team.
“We’re not going to ease up (if) he’s out. We have to keep our intensity high throughout every shift of the game tomorrow and all the future games.”
The Avalanche advanced to the second round in each of the past two postseasons, losing in seven games both times. It’s why they worked so hard to win the Presidents’ Trophy to earn home ice throughout the playoffs this season.
“I think for everybody it’s just getting the chance to win the Stanley Cup,” MacKinnon said. “Every year it feels like we’re a little bit closer, getting better and better as a team that (general manager) Joe (Sakic) has put together. I felt like last year was the first year we had a really, really good chance in the bubble and this year it feels the same.
“Obviously it doesn’t mean anything; we’re playing an amazing team. All we have to do is focus on Game 1 and hopefully get a win tomorrow night and keep going from there.”
MacKinnon said rookie Alex Newhook, who had three assists in six games, could be a valuable addition. Newhook was on the fourth line Sunday, with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and J.T. Compher.
“His speed is great, has a really good shot,” he said. “He works really hard as well on both sides of the puck. He’s competitive, looks like he’s making good reads. As a young player it’s hard to make those good reads early. That takes a little time in the ‘D’ zone, experience, things like that, but he’s doing a great job and he could be a bit of an X-factor for us in the playoffs, someone with having that high-end skill coming in.”
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