WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Chris Wagner has four goals in 16 games with the Avalanche — an impressive scoring pace, given that he typically doesn’t play more than 10 minutes per game.
“You just help the team in any way you can,” Wagner said after Monday’s morning skate at the MTS Centre. “I don’t know if it’s necessarily my job to score goals, but everyone in this room has grown up doing it. It kind of comes naturally sometimes.”
Wagner, who was picked up off waivers from Anaheim on Nov. 16, played in 13 consecutive games with Colorado before serving as a healthy scratch in 14 straight. In the past three games, including Monday against the Jets, he replaced Mikhail Grigorenko as a depth center.
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Grigorenko, 21, has just two goals in 40 games.
Wagner is grittier than Gri- gorenko, who is better suited as a skilled top-six center. Wagner, 24, is centering a rugged line with left wing Andreas Martinsen and future Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla on the right side.
Iginla, 38, set up Wagner for Colorado’s only goal Saturday in a 2-1 loss at Columbus.
“Iggy was always a first-rounder every time I did an NHL fantasy draft growing up. He was on my team when I played video games,” Wagner said. “It’s surreal playing with him. He’s such a great guy, and we’re always talking on the bench about what we can do better. It’s just a real honor.”
Footnotes. In losing 2-1 to the Avalanche, the Jets failed to win three consecutive games for the first time this season. They played against the Avalanche without injured forwards Drew Stafford, Adam Lowry and Mark Sheifele. … The Jets opened a six-game homestand at the MTS Centre, where they are now 12-8-1. … The Avalanche was scheduled to return to Denver after the game and meet for off-ice workouts at team headquarters Tuesday.
