Avs Staying Focused on Creating More Scoring Chances

The pucks haven't been going in as frequently as the Colorado Avalanche has wanted, but head coach Jared Bednar has been pleased overall with his club's attack mindset over the past several games.
Colorado outshot the Arizona Coyotes handedly in its previous two-game set, holding an 81-28 combined advantage in the contests despite falling 3-2 on Monday and winning 2-1 on Wednesday. The Avs aim to continue that offensive tenacity and find twine a little more this evening when they begin their weekend series at Ball Arena versus the Los Angeles Kings.

"I think that is a recipe for success for most teams. You have to look at the quality of shots you're getting as well, but I liked the mix we had last game," Bednar said. "We created some real good rush opportunities--I think we had like four breakaways. I would like to see us capitalize on a few more opportunities, and I think we have opportunities to shoot the puck a little quicker than what we have."
The Avs allowed a season-low 14 shots in both contests versus Arizona, and the 28 total shots against in the two outings were the second fewest in consecutive games in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques franchise history. The Avs only allowed 25 combined on Nov. 24 and 27, 2001 against the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers.
Colorado had 35 shots in Monday's OT loss before firing a season-high 46 on Wednesday, which was its most in a contest since also having 46 pucks on net on Jan. 20, 2020 versus the Detroit Red Wings.
"We outshot them again and out-chanced them, we had a lot of chances. One thing we have to be better at is just scoring at a higher percentage," said forward Mikko Rantanen on Colorado's recent games. "You know, we create so many chances, but we just can't find the back of the net that often. We just have to work on that and maybe work on some video and try and learn how we can score more goals and be more dangerous."
Bednar noted that he wants to continue to see his squad take a variety of high-quality shots; creating offense from rushes into the zone, driving to the net, point shots and jumping on any rebounds that might come loose in front.
"We're getting ourselves in some good scoring areas," Bednar said. "There's a good mix of point shots coming from the offensive zone that we're working to try and track down and create secondary opportunities from. So it's not just the volume of shots that I like, there's different aspects to it, but I thought we had a pretty good mix the other night."

LINEUP NOTES

The Avalanche will use the same lineup as it did on Wednesday against the Arizona Coyotes, with goaltender Philipp Grubauer expected to start for the third straight contest and his 21st of the season.
Defenseman Bowen Byram (upper body) and forward J.T. Compher (upper body) took part in Colorado's morning skate today in red, non-contact jerseys, while rear guard Dennis Gilbert (upper body) wore a regular practice sweater and still donned a full face shield on his helmet.
Also out for the Avalanche are young blueliners Cale Makar (upper body) and Conor Timmins (upper body), while veteran D-man Erik Johnson (upper body) and goaltender Pavel Francouz (lower body) remain out long term.
View: Avalanche Projected Lineup vs. Kings

NOTEWORTHY

The Avalanche is hosting its annual Hockey Fights Cancer game, and the players will wear special lavender jerseys during warmup that will be auctioned off later this month. The Avs are 8-3-1 all-time on Hockey Fights Cancer Night at Ball Arena.
Colorado has gone 14 consecutive games allowing fewer than 30 shots, tied for the longest-such stretch in franchise history (Feb. 21-March 22, 2001).
Nathan MacKinnon needs one assist to pass Dale Hunter (322) for sole possession of seventh place in franchise history.
Samuel Girard (29:33) and Devon Toews (28:24) both set career highs for minutes played in the Avalanche's last contest on Wednesday. Girard's 29:33 of ice time was the highest by an Avalanche player in the regular season since Tyson Barrie played 29:44 on Feb. 20, 2018 at the Vancouver Canucks.
Colorado owns a 3-1-1 record it its last five games and is 5-2-1 in its past eight.

ONE TIMERS

Head coach Jared Bednar on the Hockey Fights Cancer game:
"I think it's real important. You look at our team and teams around the league that are trying to bring awareness and support the fundraising for Hockey Fights Cancer, I think it's something that hopefully someday we can find a cure for. Anything we can do to help and show support to people that have been hit by the sickness. Everyone in our room and in our organization knows somebody that's had it. It's something that we have to continue to work to find a solution for. We're excited to be a part of the night. Certainly, it's more fun when we can get past patients and people who have gone through some struggles with cancer in the stands with us and pay tribute to them, but tonight we'll just have to do it from a distance."
Mikko Rantanen on the one-year anniversary of the NHL pausing the 2019-20 season:
"It was weird times. I was actually injured and was ready to play the next game when the season got postponed. I saw earlier in the day of the Rangers game day that the NBA announced they were going to postpone and then come to the rink and watched the game. I remember everybody was talking about for sure the NHL was going to do the same thing. It was a weird thing, and I'm glad it's behind us."
Greg Pateryn on being called back up to the Avs:
"I went down there and got some games in and some good minutes. It's always good to play some games, no matter where you are. So I just did what I needed to be ready for a callback, and I'm glad to get another opportunity."