Few NHL forwards — particularly an 18-year-old rookie — can be in a two-month scoring slump and still be considered one of his team’s most important players.
That’s what center Ryan O’Reilly is to the Avalanche.
O’Reilly, who began his rookie season with 17 points (four goals) in his first 24 games, has just one point (goal) in his past 27 games.
Yet he has exceeded his average ice time of 16 minutes, 47 seconds in each of the last six games — all Colorado victories — because he is the type of defensive forward you want on the ice when playing with the lead.
“With Ryan, you don’t necessarily see the results on the score sheet,” Avs coach Joe Sacco said. “You see them in other areas. His development is certainly heading in the right direction. There’s no question, as evident by ice time.
“If I didn’t have the trust and faith in him, he wouldn’t be out in certain situations, but we really believe in him. We believe in what he’s doing, and we believe he’s helping our team win. That’s the bottom line.”
O’Reilly, who will turn 19 on Feb. 7, centers the third line with wingers Darcy Tucker and Cody McLeod, and is typically paired with T.J. Galiardi on the No. 1 penalty-killing unit.
O’Reilly leads the Avs with 41 takeaways and is first among forwards with 39 blocked shots. Among players that have taken at least 400 faceoffs, O’Reilly’s 46.2 winning percentage is second-highest on the team behind Paul Stastny (50.4 percent), and second among NHL rookies behind the Islanders’ John Tavares (47.9).
Despite his scoring woes, O’Reilly has a respectable plus-6 rating.
“Definitely, I’m not getting points and our line isn’t contributing as much as we want to,” O’Reilly said. “Down the road, we have to figure it out, sooner than later. But when I don’t get scored on in the PK and our line doesn’t allow a goal, that’s a solid game for me. I just have to keep working hard and the points will come.”
Nobody can question O’Reilly’s work ethic. He’s such a rink rat, he volunteers as the team’s puck collector after practice.
At the end of each session, sometimes 45 minutes after some players have left the ice, O’Reilly deposits some 50 pucks into a white painter’s bucket. But he does so with only his stick.
Forehand, backhand, between the legs or redirected from a teammate’s lob pass, each puck eventually settles in the bucket. And then, O’Reilly hits the showers, passing through an often empty locker room.
“It’s just a fun fundamental challenge I’ve been doing at the end of practice for a long time,” O’Reilly said. “It’s just something that helps with handling the puck, learning flips and how the puck jumps off your stick.”
Soon, Sacco expects O’Reilly to deposit plenty of pucks in the net.
“There’s a lot of responsibility for an 18-year-old, and I think he’s handled it very well,” Sacco said. “His (point) production will come. . . . The main thing is he’s contributing to a winning team right now.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
NOTEBOOK
Wild: Veteran right wing Petr Sykora on Wednesday was demoted to the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League. Sykora, who has 677 career points (302 goals), amassed just three points in 14 games for Minnesota. . . . The Wild is 8-17-2 on the road, compared with 17-6-2 at home heading into Wednesday’s game against Detroit. . . . Minnesota’s power play (17 percent) is 22nd in the NHL.
Avalanche: Rookie defenseman Ryan Wilson, who has missed the last two games with a concussion, will return to the lineup, coach Joe Sacco said. Veteran defenseman and team captain Adam Foote (ankle) is questionable. The Avs are 6-0 in his absence. “The guys are winning, so you don’t want to come back and rush it,” Foote said. “So there is a positive there. We’ll see what happens after (this morning’s) skate.”
