Avalanche enjoying the sunny side of life on the road

TAMPA, Fla. – This trip was supposed to be no picnic for the Avalanche, but just like they have all year long, the Avs proved the doubters were spouting fake news as they gathered on a Florida lawn Friday. Piles of pork and a bevy of beef were devoured by hungry hockey players following a brief but spirited practice at the Ice Sports Forum here on the outskirts of this city.

There’s always something about this trip that brings out the joie de vivre in the Avalanche. It’s Florida, after all, in winter, a brief but enjoyable respite from the cold and snow of home. But after today, fun time will be over. Saturday night at Amalie Arena, it’s back to work for an Avalanche team that will play the No. 1 team in the league, the Tampa Bay Lightning, in what could be a Stanley Cup Final preview.

A buffet of slap shots, body checks and shaved ice await the Avs in what is a rematch of a thrilling – yes, thrilling is the accurate word – of a 1-0 game last month, won by Tampa Bay at the Pepsi Center.

“I think if we were able to play the same game we played at home, then our chances are probably pretty good,” Jared Bednar told BSN Denver. “I like some of the scoring chances that we created. We traded some chances, but we’ve got to be ready to skate and check against these guys. And we can’t let their goalie outwork us. They’re missing their top guy (goalie Andrei Vasilevski), so we’ve got to get to their goalie a little better.”

Indeed, the Avs have a chance to play against a backup goalie – Louis Domingue – as Vasilevski convalesces with a broken foot. That hasn’t helped Tampa Bay’s recent opponents, however. The Lightning has won five in a row, its 45 points most in the league.

“They’re good defensively, so you’ve got to be ready to move the puck into the interior of the ice,” Bednar said. “We’ve got to have a shot mentality against them.”

After breaking up his top line in the third period Thursday night against the Florida Panthers, Bednar will reunite the trio of Mikko Rantanen, Gabe Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon.

“You like to see how they do apart, just a little anyway, but you don’t want to really break that line up. Obviously, they’ve played so well together,” Bednar said.

The Avs are currently fourth in the NHL in penalty minutes per game, at 10:12, and while teams have to be worried about taking penalties against them – with Colorado having the best power play in the league, at 30.9 percent – they can’t put the Lightning on the PP much either and get away it probably. Tampa Bay is third in the league, at 27.9 percent.

“We had a game two or three games ago, we had three penalties in the first period and they were all stick penalties – tripping, hooking, slashing – and to me, those penalties are where we’re not using our legs to check,” Bednar said. “You’re not putting stick on puck and using your legs. Those are the things that we’ve got to start eliminating, especially when you see the power plays in the league; all the power plays are up. It used to be that 20 to 25 percent was great, now you’ve got teams clicking in the 30s. And when they go through hot stretches, they’re pushing well above that. So, we’ve gotta watch our penalties. Even last night, we took two penalties in the offensive zone, 200 feet from our net. I think we can make some smarter decisions there.”