As the Avalanche have continued to pull away from the Dallas Stars in the standings, head coach Jared Bednar has begun experimenting with his lineup ahead of the playoffs.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no different than what he did in 2022. That season, the Avs were so far ahead in the standings that the coach decided to use the stretch run to try new combinations. He often separated Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon; he allowed the newly acquired Artturi Lehkonen to play on the top line. He even tried Andre Burakovsky with MacKinnon, and as a third liner with J.T. Compher.<\/p>\n
The reasoning was simple: Bednar wanted to have alternative combinations that work just in case an in-series change needed to be made. And in the end, it made a difference. He went to his arsenal several times as the team marched to a Stanley Cup championship.<\/p>\n
This season feels the same, but with a little bit of a twist. Bednar isn\u2019t just trying to find alternative options. He\u2019s trying to figure out the best way to deploy the top three lines. <\/p>\n
\u201cI know what our fourth line looks like. If you\u2019re watching us play right now and watching how productive they are and what they\u2019re doing, I know what that line looks like,\u201d Bednar said. \u201cMaybe it includes [Logan O\u2019Connor], maybe [Joel Kiviranta], but I know what it looks like, and I know what they\u2019re going to provide.<\/p>\n
As for the rest of the forward group: \u201cNow I gotta work around that and make sure we got three other lines going that are responsible on the defensive side and that can help us produce. And as close as I can get to having all three going, that\u2019s what we\u2019re looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n
On defense, we\u2019ve already seen Cale Makar and Devon Toews play on separate pairs \u2014 something that continued on Saturday with Brett Kulak joining Makar, while Toews lined up with Sam Malinski. But now that the forwards are all healthy (except for Nic Roy), Bednar has started to juggle those lines too. <\/p>\n
He knows Valeri Nichushkin and Brock Nelson are a great pairing. He\u2019s had great success with Martin Necas on MacKinnon\u2019s wing. But everything else can be experimental to see what the best way to move forward is. <\/p>\n
Against the Jets, we saw Necas start the game away from MacKinnon, instead playing on a line with the Nichushkin and Nelson duo.<\/p>\n
MacKinnon was with Gabe Landeskog and Artturi Lehkonen, while Nazem Kadri centered a line with Logan O\u2019Connor and Ross Colton. This likely won\u2019t be the last time we see different combos ahead of the postseason. They even changed during this game as the Avs trailed.<\/p>\n
This is a good problem to have, and one that only gets better when Nic Roy is reinserted into the equation. Having a step on the other teams in the Central Division makes it easier to try these things. Even if the result is a loss, like how things unfolded against the Jets.<\/p>\n
10 Takeaways<\/p>\n
1. I wonder if Bednar\u2019s biggest question right now is figuring out how to deploy the three left wingers. Lehkonen, Landeskog, and Colton all recently returned from injury and you could make an argument for each one on any line. Landeskog fits well with MacKinnon and Necas, but he has also seen success with Nelson this year. Years ago, Landeskog and Kadri were an excellent duo.<\/p>\n
Colton has gotten a chance to remain in the top six, but I\u2019d imagine he\u2019ll spend most of the playoffs with Kadri on the third line. But then again, on any given night, he could be elevated if he\u2019s playing well. And if that\u2019s the spark the team needs, you feel comfortable knowing Landeskog and Lehkonen can both move around, too.<\/p>\n
2. Bednar was asked about the defense change and said he\u2019s liked what he\u2019s seen. I still think Makar and Toews will start together in Game 1, but knowing Kulak can play with Makar and do it well is a luxury this team can use.<\/p>\n
3. The power play is now 12-for-44 in March, which, at the conclusion of this game, is the sixth-best PP in that time.<\/p>\n
4. I didn\u2019t want to outright say it last week, but I\u2019m starting to get more convinced of it. The power play has improved immensely because of the addition of Kadri. I really believe this more and more. His ability to play in that right circle and both shoot and create plays as he did with the Nelson tip today is a major asset. It gives them an added dimension that they have not had all year. <\/p>\n
5. In these two games against the Jets, the Avs\u2019 five goals on Connor Hellebuyck came off two battles in the crease and three redirects. It\u2019s hard to beat him with a shot, and they\u2019re probably glad to see that the season series is over. Outside of a miracle Jets surge to the second wildcard spot, they won\u2019t see this team again until next season.<\/p>\n
6. Brent Burns is really struggling lately, and his minutes have been getting trimmed. I would imagine that by the time the playoffs come around, he\u2019ll be the No. 6 defenseman and consistently playing the least by a wide margin. He can provide a lot as a veteran but I can\u2019t imagine it would be smart to play him 18 or even 17 minutes every other night when the playoff grind ramps up. <\/p>\n
7. That goalie interference challenge felt like a reach from Bednar. The contact from Jonathan Toews was very minimal and came a little late, after the puck was already going in. So why did he challenge it?<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the timing of it. One goal, the whole game was five-on-five, and it\u2019s hard to create offense,\u201d he said. \u201cIf they go up 3-2, you\u2019ve got a couple shifts, and then you\u2019re pulling the goalie. So if you can try to erase it off the board, I thought it was worth a shot. It\u2019s close enough. And if we don\u2019t, we just need another kill, and we just had a great kill.\u201d<\/p>\n
8. Another start for Mackenzie Blackwood \u2014 his fourth in five games \u2014 as Bednar continues to allow his usual starter to grab a hold of that role full-time again. I didn\u2019t like the Cole Koepke goal, but overall, he looked fine in the limited shots he faced. <\/p>\n
9. I honestly have no idea why the officials didn\u2019t call Ross Colton for goalie interference when his skate accidentally kicked the back of Hellebuyck\u2019s skate to knock the goalie down. That was a big time missed call.<\/p>\n
10. Congratulations to Cale Makar for recording his 500th career point and becoming the fourth fastest defenseman to ever reach the mark. I know I\u2019ve said it before, but this is a special time to watch the Avalanche play, and having one of the best defenseman to ever play the game on this team is a large part of why that is. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the Avalanche have continued to pull away from the Dallas Stars in the standings, head coach Jared…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5116],"tags":[193,192,144,5277,5,1117,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-528927","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-colorado-avalanche","8":"tag-avalanche","9":"tag-colorado","10":"tag-colorado-avalanche","11":"tag-coloradoavalanche","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-jared-bednar","14":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116311149931999281","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}