Morning skate report: Key injury forces lineup change

“Take a hit to make a play.”

It’s one of hockey’s oldest axioms and when Matt Calvert absorbed a crushing blow from Brent Burns in order to chip the puck out of the defensive zone and ahead to Nathan MacKinnon for what became the game-winning goal in Game 2, Calvert gave up more than just the hit.

As it turns out, Calvert gave up the ability to play in Game 3 as the Burns his left Calvert with an upper-body injury. Sven Andrighetto will replace Calvert in the lineup. What exactly the lines are going into tonight’s tie-breaker remains unknown as the Avs exclusively worked on special teams this morning.

It would stand to reason, in my eyes anyway (meaning I’m guessing), that Derick Brassard would move into Calvert’s vacated spot next to J.T. Compher and Matt Nieto while Andrighetto then takes Brassard’s spot on the fourth line next to Tyson Jost and Gabe Bourque.

That fourth line has been playing pretty well, however, so the temptation to leave them together might be enough to just drop Andrighetto next to Compher and Nieto and simply play that line less overall.

Calvert had two assists in Game 2 and was a key player in the Avalanche getting the split in San Jose. His line was ineffective in Game 1 but gave a significant lift to the Avs in the second game of the series. It will be important for that line to continue finding ways to contribute tonight despite Calvert’s absence.

Andrighetto himself had a bit of an interesting morning as well. There were reports from Russia that he had already agreed to terms with a KHL club for next season. Given the Avs are in the middle of a second-round playoff series, the timing was certainly curious. When asked about it, Andrighetto said it was simply a rumor and the same thing happened two years ago when he had no contract for the next season. He is a restricted free agent this summer and it’s unclear whether or not he in the Avalanche’s plans beyond this season but according to Andrighetto, he has not made any commitment to a KHL team at this time.

Speaking of Russia, Vladislav Kamenev shed his non-contact jersey yesterday at practice. He was once again wearing a regular jersey this morning and Jared Bednar said in his post-morning skate presser that Kamenev was healthy and available to play for them should the need arise. He mentioned Kamenev hadn’t played in a while and only just became a full participant in practice so they were likely to continue being patient. If injuries mount, however, he would be an option to slot into the Avalanche lineup.

To the surprise of no one, Philipp Grubauer is the starter in net tonight for Colorado.