Avalanche defenseman Fedor Tyutin, who had missed the previous three games with a groin injury, could have played Tuesday night against Nashville, but Colorado coach Jared Bednar decided not to rush him back into the lineup.
“I think he’s probably ready to go,” Bednar said Tuesday morning. “He’s been off the ice for quite some time. We’re just looking back at the last couple of games with the way our D corps has played and we’re going to give him some more skates before we put him in the game.”
With Tyutin out, Bednar tinkered with his pairings, leaving Erik Johnson with Nikita Zadorov, but Tyson Barrie has been with Patrick Wiercioch and Francois Beauchemin with Eric Gelinas.
“It’s such a small sample size, but I like the way our D partners played the last couple of games,” Bednar said after the morning skate. “I like the way our team played the last couple of games, so I don’t want to rush (Tyutin) back from injury after only skating one time.”
Tyutin and Cody McLeod were the Avalanche scratches against Nashville.
For the Predators, veteran defenseman Matt Carle, the former Hobey Baker Award winner as NCAA hockey’s top player at the University of Denver, was among the Nashville scratches for the third consecutive game.
Challenging. The Avalanche is in the midst of a strange stretch of the schedule, featuring alternating home and road games. Starting with the Oct. 22 game at Florida, the every-other-game pattern runs through Nov. 8.
For the record, here’s the stretch after that game at Florida: Oct. 28 vs. Winnipeg, Oct. 29 at Arizona, Tuesday vs. Nashville, Thursday at Chicago, Saturday vs. Minnesota, Sunday at St. Louis, next Tuesday vs. Arizona.
Major League III. When the hockey game started Tuesday night, the Chicago Cubs held a 7-0 lead on Cleveland in Game 6 of the World Series, and the Avs knew they’d be staying in downtown Chicago on Wednesday night during — and after — a Game 7 in Cleveland. The Avalanche will practice at Family Sports Center Wednesday morning before leaving for Chicago in mid-afternoon.
