Nichushkin and fellow Avalanche forward J.T. Compher were "checked out" following Colorado's 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay in Game 5, and Bednar said Saturday that he expected each to play. Compher took part in the morning skate Sunday but Nichushkin, who had a goal and an assist in 20:38 of ice time in Game 5, did not. He was, however, able to participate in warmups.
The Avalanche lead the best-of-7 series 3-2 and could win their first Stanley Cup championship in 21 years with a victory Sunday.
Nichushkin has 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in 19 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
"He's been great. Key player for us, playing really well," Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen said. "Big body, he] skates really well and also very good defensively."
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Andre Burakovsky was unable to play Sunday and remains day to day. The forward skated briefly before going back to the locker room in the morning.
Burakovsky has missed four games after he left Colorado's 7-0 win in Game 2 early in the second period after being hit in the hand by a shot from Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman.
He has eight points (three goals, five assists) in 12 playoff games after he had an NHL career-high 61 points (22 goals, 39 assists) in 80 regular-season games.
Bednar said the Avalanche have missed several aspects of Burakovsky's game.
"One of them is his ability to transport the puck from the [defensive] zone into the offensive zone with possession," he said. "He has really good numbers skating the puck, being able to pick his way through the neutral zone. The obvious big one is he can score, you know? He's a streaky scorer, he creates good shot opportunities and he's got a shot that can score from distance."
The Avalanche are confident heading into Game 6. They are 8-1 on the road in the playoffs. They lost Game 3 of the Final 6-2 in Tampa, and won Game 4 on the road, 3-2 in overtime.
"Sometimes on the road you play a little bit simpler, you play more of a checking game, you really execute what the game plan is and a lot of the distractions are not there," Colorado forward Andrew Cogliano said.
"I think we have very strong leadership in our room that's had a very narrow kind of central focus all playoffs, and we have a bunch of really good soldiers that follow through with it. It's a series against a really good team, against a championship team, and at the end of the day we're battling and we're scratching and clawing like they are, and tonight we'll come out and we'll play our game that we've been used to all playoffs."
