Avalanche Practice: Kadri Confident Team Will Respond; Makar Skates Again
· Yahoo Sports
Following a lightly attended optional practice on Thursday, the message remained the same among the Colorado Avalanche.
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Game 2 will be different.
“I know there’s going to be a response. There’s no question about it,” center Nazem Kadri said. “I think even in the last series, when we lost Game 3, we responded in Game 4.”
Kadri did not record a point, but his linemates on the third line did, before things were shuffled around. Valeri Nichushkin and Ross Colton combined to score on a sweet give-and-go play early in the third period. Those are two guys who have been streaky at times. But they came up big on Colorado’s opening goal.
There were struggles in the top six — things that the team could clean up for Game 2 to have a better performance. They know they have more to give.
“We’re a good team. I think we have full confidence in our capabilities, and I don’t think that really wavers depending on whether you win or lose, especially early in the series,” Kadri said. “So, I felt like we did a lot of great things last game, a little bit sloppy at times, but felt like we did enough to win the game. But credit to them, they stole one. Now we’ve got to respond.”
Kadri also added: “I think some people thought the sky was falling [after Game 3 in Minnesota], and we certainly believe we have a process that we stick to, and we’re not going to waver from that.”
Lineup Changes
Head coach Jared Bednar shuffled the lines in the third period. He had Artturi Lehkonen and Gabe Landeskog playing with Nathan MacKinnon, while Martin Necas joined the Brock Nelson line with Nichushkin. Kadri was also getting spotted into the top six in the third period to increase the offense.
Bednar said on Thursday that he liked those lines, but he wouldn’t commit to starting Game 2 with them. However, he did say that changes will come sooner than they did in Game 1, if adjustments are needed.
Makar Update
Cale Makar was on the ice and looked to be moving well. He was doing drills on his own, so it’ll be interesting to see if he can ramp up and take contact. Full-team practices and morning skates are very much limited with an every-other-day schedule, so if Makar plays Game 2, it’ll probably be something that isn’t necessarily predictable by assessing his reps at practice.
When asked about Makar playing Game 2, Bednar said, “I don’t have an update. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.”
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