Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Drastic line changes

January 1, 2020, 6:33 PM ET [4 Comments]
Rick Sadowski
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Drastic changes are in order when you lose three games in a row and five of the past six, especially when all the losses come by blowing leads in the third period, four of them at home.

Based on the line combinations he used Wednesday at practice, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar will drop Mikko Rantanen to the third line and Andre Burakovsky to the fourth line for Thursday’s game against St. Louis at the Pepsi Center.

These were the lines:

Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Joonas Donskoi
Matt Calvert -- Nazem Kadri -- Valeri Nichushkin
Matt Nieto -- J.T. Compher -- Mikko Rantanen
Tyson Jost -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Andre Burakovsky

The Avalanche scored 10 goals in the past three games (0-2-1) but allowed 16, three of them into an empty net. They scored 14 goals in the past five losses and allowed 27, five into an empty net.

Sloppy defensive play combined with weak checking and mediocre to poor goaltending have contributed to the losses.

The latest defeat came New Year’s Eve, a 7-4 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, who began the night in a 2-5-1 slump.

My NHL.com GAME RECAP

“We have to check to win,” Bednar said after the game. “We’re doing plenty on the offensive side, forechecking, turning over pucks. You got to check, and that’s 5-on-5 and our details on the penalty kill, rush coverage was not good, not enough communication.

“The mistakes we’re making, we’re giving them home runs.”

Bednar said he doesn’t have a problem with an offense that produced over 40 shots in each of the past three games, and what had been a moribund power play came to life with two goals against the Jets after he tweaked those units.

“If you look at it in the simplest form, why we are losing hockey games right now, it is not because we are not producing (offensively), it has nothing to do with that,” Bednar told reporters Wednesday. “We have so many chances last night to score, but we lose the game because we didn't defend well enough through four lines and through the D-corps.

“Part of that is a little extra competitiveness, staying aggressive in a defending mindset where we are going to close plays out and working extremely hard to close plays out instead of just being content with contain mode.

“Right now, I feel like this might help us. You know those guys might help drag some of the other guys into battle a little bit."

*****

Rookie defenseman Cale Makar is a Last Men In candidate to join MacKinnon on the Central Division team for the 2020 NHL All-Star Game.

Voting began Wednesday at 10 a.m. MT and ends Jan. 10 at 9:59 p.m. MT.

Fans can vote at NHL.com/Vote or on a mobile interactive ballot on the NHL app.



Join the Discussion: » 4 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Rick Sadowski
» One-year deal for Johansson
» One more postseason disappointment
» Bednar cleared to coach tonight; MacKinnon Hart finalist
» Cale Makar a Norris Trophy finalist
» Jost: Do or die Game 5 tonight; Kadri suspension upheld