Avs morning skate notebook: Jared Bednar tries something new

MONTREAL – Hi again from the Bell Centre, where the Avs just finished up with their morning skate. Avs and Montreal Canadiens tonight, 5 p.m. Mountain, on Altitude.

Here are some of the lineup changes in store for tonight:

Colin Wilson is back in the lineup. He’ll play on the second line, with Kerfoot and Jost. J.T. Compher will be bumped down to the third line, with Matt Nieto bumped to the fourth line.

Mark Barberio is the other guy who will return from injury and play tonight. He will take the place of Patrik Nemeth, who remains sick – but I have a feeling he might have been given a night off anyway. Barberio and Ryan Graves will be the fifth and sixth D-men for Jared Bednar’s troops.

Nikita Zadorov is back, skating with the team. He had a regular jersey on at the skate, but he’ll miss one more game at least. I think there’s a chance he could play Monday in Toronto, but we’ll see. If Graves has another good game tonight, he might make it a tough decision for Bednar. I mean, could Graves replace Barberio and Nemeth in the regular lineup? Who knows.

Semyon Varlamov is your starter in goal for Colorado, which desperately needs a victory.

Gabriel Bourque is a healthy scratch as a forward. Tough break for him, as he’s from Montreal, but this is a tough business sometimes.

I talked some with Matt Calvert before the game, about the problems with the penalty kill of late. I thought it was interesting in that he said he’s had to get used to a very different style of PK from his days in Columbus. I think that means he has had to get used to playing a more stationary, box style of play, which is reliant on the goalie to make the saves and clear rebounds.

Personally, I’d like to see the Avs pressure the puck carrier a lot more. But, as Calvert says, he does what the coach tells him to do.

Listen to the interview here: