WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Tyson Barrie was a game-time decision Sunday against the Winnipeg Jets, but the Avalanche defenseman was cleared to play, scored a goal and logged a game-high 23:44 in Colorado’s 5-3 loss.
Barrie missed the two previous games with a hip injury, his first major ailment of the season.
“I think it’s behind me now,” Barrie said. “I didn’t know I would be able to go until warm-up, when I was able to test it out a little bit for the first time in a few days, and this was a big one for us. I wanted to be a part of it.
“(The loss) was unfortunate, but hopefully I’ll put this (injury) behind me.”
Success at 6-on-5. For the fifth and sixth times this season, the Avalanche scored twice in 6-on-5 situations with goalie Semyon Varlamov on the bench for a sixth attacker.
Barrie scored against the Jets on a delayed penalty midway through the first period after Varlamov skated off and was replaced by Nathan MacKinnon, and the late-game desperation tactic paid dividends at 17:40 of the third period when Alex Tanguay scored with Cody McLeod coming on for Varlamov.
Barrie and others can’t explain why the 6-on-5 has been so successful while the power play — 5-on-4, 5-on-3 and 4-on-3 — is at 12.4 percent, second lowest in the league and on a 0-for-26 skid.
“Whatever it is, I don’t know,” Barrie said. “The mentality, maybe. Maybe we need to be more hungry like we are 6-on-5.”
Footnotes. Defensemen Stefan Elliott and Karl Stollery were the Avs’ healthy scratches Sunday. … Colorado has completed two trips with back-to-back games and losing at least an hour at Winnipeg, which has outscored the Avs 11-5 in those games. Neither team had a morning skate Sunday. The Jets previously played Friday, losing 2-1 in overtime to Chicago to extend its winless skid to six games. … Young Jets forward Evander Kane was replaced by regular defenseman Dustin Byfuglien. Kane had run-ins with teammates and coaches last week in Vancouver and was scratched against the Canucks. He opted to have season-ending shoulder surgery Friday.
