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10 Observations

10 Observations: Jared Bednar Says Avalanche Had ‘Too Many Passengers’

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DENVER — Jared Bednar’s postgame press conferences have been must-watch television this season.



Following the Avalanche’s 3-2 overtime victory over the New York Rangers on Tuesday, the head coach courted questions as if his team had lost. He was happy to come away with two points but he was unhappy with just about everything else.

READ MORE: Blackwood Shines, Avalanche Look Unimpressive in OT Win

10 Observations

1. He certainly had a lot of good things to say about Mackenzie Blackwood. And why wouldn’t he? The Avalanche’s starting goalie was exceptional against the Rangers. He stopped several breakaways and was the best penalty killer on a 4-on-3 PK in OT.

Blackwood finished with 27 saves and extended his streak of only surrendering two or fewer goals to 12 games. He’s 9-2-1 with a .938 save percentage.

“He was fantastic. He was the best player on the ice for either team,” Bednar said. “We get zero points if heโ€™s not the best player on the ice.”

2. Like Devon Toews did, Bednar also credited Logan O’Connor for his performance. O’Connor basically made the OT game-winning goal happen with a relentless forecheck to set up the Nathan MacKinnon pass to Toews.

3. Bednar thought half the team wasn’t playing well.

“We had some guys that had to have monster efforts just to stay in the game,” he said.

4. This quote was even more telling of how he felt.

“The problem with tonight is we’re relying on the same eight, nine guys to do everything,” Bednar said. “Power play, penalty kill, five on five. It’s because we had too many passengers.”

5. He was frustrated because his team just came off a disappointing road trip where they went 1-2-0. After an off day and a good practice on Monday, the performance was supposed to be better. But it still wasn’t.

6. Casey Mittelstadt played 12:55 and was demoted, again, to the fourth line. This rut is lingering a lot longer than anyone thought it would. Not good.

7. Josh Manson and Keaton Middleton as a pairing should never happen again. Sam Malinski also had one of his worst games of the season.

8. All that’s to say, we should never underappreciate what Samuel Girard means to this team. They really miss him right now.

9. How about that goal from Parker Kelly? That was the type of snipe I was referring to last week when I said he’s got a sneaky good shot. Love seeing a player like that get rewarded. The celebration was great, too. That’s a Bednar-type of player who earns his ice time.

10. I posted the below video from morning skate of Gabriel Landeskog skating with the team. It’s the best I’ve seen him look since the injury and the down-on-one-knee one-timer also looked promising. I don’t know where this is going to end up but I still have hope that we’ll see him suit up this year.

Will it be in the regular season? Probably not. At this point, the salary cap has become a hurdle they probably can’t overcome to fit him in. But things could change if he’s ready to play before mid-April.

I’m rooting for Landeskog — we all are. I’m often reminded he said last May that he expects to play between October and April. He was keeping the whole season as a target just in case it takes longer than expected for his recovery. We’re still in January. I wonder how the next three months unfold.

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