The Avalanche will follow through with its plan to find secondary scoring by splitting up what is considered the NHL’s most dangerous line in Saturday’s “Hockey Night in Canada” game against Vancouver at the Pepsi Center.
For second-year forward Alex Kerfoot, being promoted to the Nathan MacKinnon-centered line is both exciting and worrisome. “Pleasure to play with him but also a lot of responsibility,” Kerfoot said after the morning skate.
MacKinnon, the Central Division captain at last week’s all-star weekend, will begin the game with Kerfoot and Colin Wilson on his wings. The “second” line features all-star wingers Gabe Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen with center Carl Soderberg.
Avs coach Jared Bednar insists the new lines could only last a period or less.
“I think Mac has the ability to drive his own line and there’s a couple guys with him right now that are excited to play with him,” Bednar said.
Bednar also wants to reward Carl Soderberg for his career-best offensive season and get J.T. Compher more time in the middle as the third-line center.
Kerfoot never has played with MacKinnon at even strength but they seemed to gel well in Saturday’s morning skate. Kerfoot realizes he must be ready to pass or shoot quicker than he normally does.
“Everything is fast. He skates fast. He thinks fast. He makes plays fast,” Kerfoot said of MacKinnon. “And he wants the guys who are playing with him to make those plays. It’s a good challenge for whoever is playing with him. Obviously, the top line has had a ton of success so far this year. And it’s kind of on the rest of the forward group as to why we had to break them up. They’ve been so good and we still find a reason why we have to change things up. But it’s a good opportunity for the rest of our group. We need to find ways to win.”
Jared Bednar after AM skate in Denver. Vs VAN tonight
— Mike Chambers (@MikeChambers)
Extended time off. Because of the all-star break and the Avalanche’s designated bye week, Saturday’s game marks Colorado’s first game in 10 days. For top-pairing defenseman Erik Johnson, it’ll be his first game in 14 days. Johnson suffered a head injury Jan. 19 against the Los Angeles Kings and missed the ensuing two games before the break.
“EJ takes care of himself,” Bednar said. “I like the way he plays when he comes off some of his injuries. He’s an experienced guy. I think he can pick it up where he left off.”
Footnotes. Goalie Semyon Varlamov will make his seventh start in the last eight games for the Avs. Varlamov is 2-4 in that stretch. … Second-year forward Tyson Jost and his equipment remains with the Avalanche but Bednar reiterated that Jost remains property of the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League and is only receiving medical treatment for an upper-body injury with the big club.
Avalanche lineup vs. Vancouver (8 p.m.)
Kerfoot-MacKinnon-Wilson
Landeskog-Soderberg-Rantanen
Calvert-Compher-Nieto
Andrighetto-Dries-Bourque
Girard-Johnson
Zadorov-Barrie
Cole-Nemeth
Varlamov, Grubauer
