LOS ANGELES — Winger Marek Svatos and defenseman John-Michael Liles, the subjects of much speculation at the NHL trade deadline, were back out of the Colorado lineup as healthy scratches against the Kings.
Svatos played the previous three games, mostly on a line with Ryan O’Reilly and Kevin Porter. Svatos has been scratched in four of Colorado’s last eight games. Chris Durno, scratched at Anaheim on Sunday, was in the lineup Monday night.
On defense, Liles returned to healthy-scratch status after playing in the previous 11 games and seemingly escaping coach Joe Sacco’s doghouse. As the Olympic break approached, Sacco made Liles a scratch five times in a seven-game stretch.
GM’s position.
Avalanche general manager Greg Sherman was part of the league’s GM meetings in early March, when that group approved proposed rules changes designed to discourage and penalize hits to the head — with emphasis on those from behind or the side.
The original plan was to go through the usual process to put the changes into effect next season. But additional hit-to-the-head incidents prompted the league to attempt to get the NHL Players’ Association and its competition committee to go along with immediate implementation. Discussions now are focused on a temporary, scaled-down proposal.
“If it’s something they’re able to work out with the players’ association and put it into effect, I support the league on that,” Sherman said Monday at the Staples Center. “I support what’s best for the game, and we want to get those types of hits out of our game.”
Barn to barn.
The Kings and Avalanche meet again Wednesday night in Denver. It will be the second of Colorado’s two back-to-back sets against the same opponent this season.
In the previous set, the Avalanche lost 5-3 at Minnesota on Nov. 27 and fell 3-2 to the Wild in a shootout at home the next night.
Also, the game against the Kings represented the 14th time Colorado played on back-to-back nights this season. Colorado is 9-4-1 in the first game and is 4-8-2 in the second game after Monday night’s overtime loss.
Terry Frei, The Denver Post
