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Off to SoCal for 4-game trip

January 18, 2021, 4:18 PM ET [0 Comments]
Rick Sadowski
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Avalanche practiced Monday before departing for Los Angeles and their first road trip of this unique season.

They’ll be in a mini-bubble for a two-game set against the Kings on Tuesday and Thursday before playing a two-game series in Anaheim.

“It is going to be a little different,” Andre Burakovsky said. “I think the bubble thing in Edmonton (for the playoffs) was tougher because you were there for two months. Now we’re only going to be going for a week and then we go back home and being in our own house or apartment and sleep in our own beds. We’re not going to be gone for very long. I kind of enjoy being on road trips to spend time with the boys.”

Burakovsky said he’ll spend his idle time watching TV “and just kind of being in my own zone.”

Burakovsky was in a nice little zone on the ice in the first two games against St. Louis. He scored a power-play goal in the season opener Wednesday, a 4-1 loss , and followed with a power-play goal and an assist Friday in the Avalanche’s 8-0 win.

Burakovsky started the first game at left wing on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. He swapped lines with Landeskog on Friday, moving to right wing on the second unit with Brandon Saad and Nazem Kadri.

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Defenseman Erik Johnson has some catching up to do before he’s able to make his season debut after missing training camp to quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19.

He took part in his second practice with the team on Monday, as did defenseman Bowen Byram, who had to quarantine after arriving from Canada, where he played for Team Canada in the World Junior Championship tournament.

"It was difficult,” Johnson said Sunday. “You train all offseason to get ready and then just before camp to have a positive was discouraging, but I just try to look at the bright side. It's a global pandemic, it’s killing people, and I am grateful that I am healthy now and able to play hockey.”

Coach Jared Bednar said Johnson will have to get in a few practices before moving into the lineup and that Conor Timmins “is absolutely still in our top six for L.A.” even though he was assigned to the taxi squad after playing in the first two games.

“You're going to see that all year, guys going on the taxi squad getting called up game day to play, they are part of our roster," Bednar said. "They are skating with the group, so I don't think you can read into who's going to the taxi squad because they are all still available and still may be playing on game day."

Bednar said he has a plan for when Byram, the No. 4 pick in the 2019 NHL draft, will play but he wouldn’t reveal when it will be.

“I don't think there is any need to give out any information to help other teams prepare,” Bednar said. “But we are going to bring him up to speed, sit down with him and do some video; we will be doing video for the next two or three days. Get him up to speed on everything that we've been doing as a team through training camp so he understands the system and the structure, and he'll get some practices.”

It helps that Byram is familiar with the system. He attended camp after getting drafted and was with the Avalanche for the playoffs.

"It was just really nice to get to know everybody on a bit of a personal level and get more comfortable around everyone and I feel like that has helped me a lot feeling more comfortable on the ice,” he said. “It was definitely a good experience to be a part of the bubble in Edmonton."



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