The Avalanche will practice Tuesday after getting a day off in the wake of its 1-1 road trip to Southern California that included a 3-0 win over the Anaheim Ducks and a 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings.
Next up for the 2-3 Avalanche: the Carolina Hurricanes at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday.
Goalie choice. Avalanche coach Patrick Roy is facing the decision of whether to for now stick with Reto Berra, who started in the net and played well in both games on the trip, or go back to No. 1 goalie Semyon Varlamov, who is off to a rough start this season.
Berra had a 35-save shutout against the Ducks and stopped 38-of-40 shots against the Kings, ultimately taking the loss after Tyler Toffoli broke a 1-1 tie with a goal off a breakaway late in the second period.
“I felt good again,” Berra said. “Of course, I want it back. I want to make the big-time save there, but also give credit to the player. He made a good move and shot it over the pads.”
Salute to Kings. Roy said the Kings played well in getting their second consecutive win.
“I thought in that circumstance, our team did a good job,” Roy said. “It was a hard-fought game. Because we defended somewhat good, I thought we had a chance to win this hockey game.”
Duchene off zero. The game in Los Angeles also was notable because center Matt Duchene, previously pointless through four games, scored his first goal of the season off a setup pass from Carl Soderberg on a power play.
“He made it easy,” Duchene said. “We had a really good power play going and I thought our unit was clicking really well all night other than the first rep we had.”
Footnotes. Going into the NHL’s sole Monday game, Colorado’s Francois Beauchemin was tied with Minnesota’s Ryan Suter for second in both points and assists among defensemen. Beauchemin has five assists in five games. Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson has seven assists. … The Avalanche’s Gabe Landeskog and John Mitchell were among the league’s 12 players with four goals, and that ranked only behind the four with five goals — St. Louis’ Vladimir Tarasenko, Dallas’ Jamie Benn, Minnesota’s Zach Parise and Montreal’s Tomas Plekanec.
