After a spirited morning practice Wednesday, the Avalanche departed for Chicago — a city on baseball egg shells with its lovable losers, the Cubs. Game 7 of the World Series is in Cleveland but downtown Chicago will be extraordinarily emotional leading up to Colorado’s game against the Blackhawks on Thursday night.
“I’m going to dinner. Too good of a city to not to,” Avs center said of his Wednesday night plans. “I’ll try to steer clear of the riots if they happen.”
The Avalanche (4-4) is coming off a disheartening 5-1 loss to visiting Nashville on Tuesday. After the game, first-year coach Jared Bednar demanded a strong response and he got one Wednesday morning.
“Absolutely, I saw it. I thought we had a great practice today,” Bednar said. “Good energy, guys focused. I liked where we were at today. We have to find a way to make sure we’re doing that every day, not just after a loss.”
Avs captain Gabe Landeskog said Tuesday’s loss might have been a result of Monday’s practice.
“Monday, we didn’t have a sharp practice and it kind of translated into (Tuesday’s) game,” Landeskog said. “I think today was a good practice. We all came out and worked hard and competed. We have to push harder across the board. You need the bottom six (forwards) to push the top six guys and all the defensemen to push each other and two goalies competing for a starting job. That’s the way it needs to be.”
The Avs are in an unusual stretch where they alternate home and road games through Tuesday. They return to Denver to host Minnesota on Saturday before traveling to St. Louis for Sunday’s game against the Blues. The Avs then host Arizona on Tuesday.
Colorado is 3-2 on the road and 1-2 at home. Last season the Avs were better on the road (22-19-0) than at home (17-20-4).
“We know we have to be a dominant home team to be a contender, and we know we have to be above .500 on the road,” Landeskog said. “When you add those two together, that’s a pretty good strategy. Right now, we need to focus on Chicago and then hopefully get two more points on Saturday at home.”
Chicago is one of the best NHL cities because of Blackhawks’ history and the unique environment at the United Center. The Cubs make this week’s trip more exciting, with the team flirting with its first World Series title in 108 years.
Bednar, who last season coach the Cleveland (formerly Lake Erie) Monsters to the American Hockey League championship, is pulling for the Indians. The Swedish-born Landeskog isn’t too familiar with baseball but likes the Cubs.
Cleveland won its first major professional championship with the NBA’s Cavaliers last spring. The Monsters are a step below the NHL but still the city’s premier hockey team.
“The city is really deserving of what they’re getting,” Bednar said. “They’re a die-hard sports town, real loyal, passionate fan base in all sports. It’s a close-knit sporting community from sport to sport, with the Monsters, the Cavs and the Indians all within a block of each other. They do a good job of kind of networking through the city.”
COLORADO AT CHICAGO, 6:30 p.m., ALT, 92.5 FM
Spotlight on Blackhawks center Artem Anisimov
In his second season with the Blackhawks, the 28-year-old Russian has seven goals in 10 games. Previously, he played three seasons apiece with the and Columbus. His career best was 22 goals in 2013-14, so he seems on the way to surpassing that. He was an enabler last season for his wingers as Patrick Kane won the Hart Trophy and Artemi Panarin took the Calder Trophy.
Avalanche: will start in goal. He allowed all five goals in Tuesday’s loss to Nashville and his save percentage dipped to .900. … Defenseman Fedor Tyutin will return to the lineup after missing the last four games with a groin injury. He had been replaced by Eric Gelinas, who will likely be a healthy scratch. Coach Jared Bednar said the scratched forward will be announced after the morning skate. … Forward Blake Comeau took a maintenance day Wednesday and was the only Avs player who didn’t practice. … Center Nathan MacKinnon hasn’t scored a goal in seven games since opening night. … Defenseman Erik Johnson is leading the team in average ice time at 23:09, and fellow blue-liner is second at 22:06.
Blackhawks: Chicago has won three in a row and is coming off a 5-1 rout of Calgary on Tuesday at the United Center. … Kane had a goal and two assists. … That game was played in a strange atmosphere as fans — and the Blackhawks themselves — followed or got word of what was going on in Game 6 of the World Series in Cleveland … Corey Crawford has been in the net for all three wins.
