Strange lineup decisions in Avalanche loss to Tyson Barrie and Maple Leafs

First off, you knew Tyson Barrie would score a goal. That was the absolute lock of the century, with one of the immutable physical laws of the universe being “It is thy written: Any ex-Avalanche player playing his first game against the Avalanche must score a goal.”

That happened at the 13:22 mark of the first period in Saturday’s 5-3 Avs loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The entire building could see Barrie coming down the weak side for an open pass, everyone except the Avalanche penalty-killing unit, that is.

So, while Barrie’s goal made perfect sense in the Curse of the Ex-Avs law of the universe, nothing else about that first period made sense, starting with: