Jared Bednar has had quite the career with the Avalanche. After winning just 22 games in his first season, he’s led the Avalanche to the second-most wins in the league (404), trailing only Tampa Bay (417). The Avalanche, with Bednar, also have the most regulation wins (337).
Of the 31 franchises, Bednar has had the most success against the Detroit Red Wings. Saturday’s 5-0 shutout victory was his 15th win in 17 games. Colorado is 15-1-1 against their old rivals in the Bednar era, and the one regulation loss was at Joe Louis Arena.
The Red Wings have been at Little Caesars Arena since 2017.
“I can’t [explain it],” Bednar said. “It’s weird because you’ll play teams that will have your number, like Utah, they play us extremely hard. Nashville’s played us really hard this year, for a team that’s not that high in the standings. They’ll go lose a handful of games, and they’ll come and play us, and we’re like, man, this looks like a playoff team. I can’t explain it.”
READ MORE: Avalanche Game 54 vs Detroit Red Wings: The Rematch! Lines, Notes & How To Watch
The Avalanche swept the season series last year but fell in OT at LCA in 2024. That loss, even though Colorado gained a point, ended a 10-game winning streak against the Red Wings that stretched from 2017 to 2024. That was the longest active streak between any two clubs at the time.
The Avs, and Bednar, can extend their dominance against the Red Wings on Monday night at Ball Arena. More impressively, the Avalanche have not lost to Detroit in Colorado since Feb. 27, 2016 when the two teams faced off in a Stadium Series outdoor game at Coors Field. Patrick Roy coached the Avalanche at the time.
Detroit’s last victory at Ball Arena was in February 2015. The Avs have won eight straight at home v.s. the Red Wings
“I think some team just match up good against other teams,” Bednar said. “I don’t know if it’s like individual, like players, who like playing in other buildings. Or a group of them, or whatever it is, or against certain teams that they’re not intimidated by, whatever it is. It’s hard to pick one thing that makes that difference.”
Colorado is getting a boost in the lineup with defenseman Devon Toews playing his first game since Jan. 2. Toews skated with Cale Makar on the first pair, meaning we’ll likely see Malinski and Samuel Girard back together.
Keaton Middleton will come out of the lineup. Martin Necas remains out.
READ MORE: Avs Coach Says Landeskog’s Olympic Participation Not In Jeopardy
Nathan MacKinnon played with Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin at LCA and had a spectacular day. Following the game, MacKinnon made a comment about playing with two left-shot wingers again — something he spent most of his career doing before the Mikko Rantanen trade.
That trio will remain together for another game. It’ll be interesting to see if Necas is reunited with MacKinnon as soon as he returns — if he plays Wednesday before the break.
The Avs are rolling with Mackenzie Blackwood again. He made 28 saves to earn his third shutout of the season two days ago. Like Saturday, Blackwood will go up against Red Wings starter John Gibson. The Avs handed Gibson just his fourth regulation loss in two months. Gibson was pulled after surrendering four goals on 17 shots through two periods.
Blackwood is 15-4-1 with a .917 save percentage. He won two of his three starts during Colorado’s road trip.
