The Avalanche had 22 guys begin practice Monday, and 21 finished. But just 17 of them will play Tuesday against the visiting Nashville Predators. The that looks at goalie Semyon Varlamov re-injuring his groin and the expected call-ups of rookie goalie Calvin Pickard and a forward, likely Paul Carey or Joey Hishon. The injury-riddled Avs — who have already used 34 players and have the NHL’s fourth-highest payroll — intend on going with a 19-player lineup against the Preds. It breaks down to 11 forwards (including true defenseman Nick Holden and Carey or Hishon), six defensemen and Pickard and Reto Berra in net. We aren’t 100 percent sure Varlamov will miss his seventh game in a nine-game stretch Tuesday, but if he does Pickard will start.
Captain Gabe Landeskog held a players-only meeting Monday and I’ll post a separate blog about that tonight.
Other storylines:
Craig MacTavish’s “we bleed with you” press conference Friday in Edmonton mirrored what the Avalanche front office is feeling. Make no mistake, .
It’s hard being.
Nathan MacKinnon didn’t play much in the third period Friday at Winnipeg. His line was minus-2 on its first shift of the third period. Afterward, coach Patrick Roy snickered that he must of “lost” the 19-year-old in the rotation.
“I wasn’t playing very well and it was a tough start to the period,” MacKinnon told me Sunday. “We haven’t even talked about it, Patrick and I. But I get it, I got the message for sure.”
