Avalanche Notebook: Rantanen status a mystery

Just 12 members (11 skaters and Semyon Varlamov) of the Colorado Avalanche took to the practice ice today at Family Sports Center following the team’s 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks last night. Not among the 11 skaters was forward Mikko Rantanen, who remains out on a day-to-day basis with an undisclosed injury. He will skate tomorrow morning in St. Louis and test out how his body responds and his status will be determined from there.

Beyond that, it was the most low-key day so far this season as the Avalanche had light participation in what amounted to a light workout. The Avs left the ice quickly and hopped on a plane to St. Louis where they take on the Blues tomorrow night. They were just there two weeks ago and despite a spirited comeback attempt, ultimately fell 3-1 in their final game before the All-Star break. Head coach Jared Bednar has previously singled out the Blues as a team the Avalanche simply can’t seem to beat recently and given their proximity to one another in the standings, victories against them would be paramount in their playoff push.

“Well they’ve been one of the top teams in the league,” Bednar said of his team’s struggles against St. Louis. “Stingy defensive team, good goaltending, they have some firepower and are one of the top teams in the league and they’re consistent in what they do so that’s about the best answer I can give you.”

As the team exits following its one-game return to the Pepsi Center for three more on the road, Bednar is keeping a measured approach in terms of what he considers success.

“Game by game,” Bednar started. “We have the ability to win all three if we play the way we can. It starts tomorrow night. Obviously, St. Louis has been a tough place to go in and play. We haven’t a had lot of success there. I thought we played really well there last game except for the first period. So, we’ve got to do what we did last game in there for the final 40 minutes. We’ve got to get after it and get on our toes and put their D under some pressure and make sure we’re skating. When that game is done, we’ll move on to the next one. I don’t have a number on it. I’m more concerned with the way we’re going to play and focus on the process for our team right now.”

Last night, Colorado was able to find three goals despite the designated “top line” of Gabe Landeskog, Alexander Kerfoot, and Colin Wilson not contributing anything on the scoresheet and not consistently creating scoring chances. Their success will be a key if Colorado is going to continue their winning ways on the road. The line is an interesting mixture of skills as Landeskog is the only holdover from Colorado’s elite top line that featured Nathan MacKinnon and Rantanen but with those two injured, they’re taking a different angle in the composition of that line.

“I think we have a puck distributor and a guy that sees the ice real well in Kerfoot,” Bednar explained. “The other two guys are big bodied guys that are trusted defensive guys. That’s one of the reasons they are together is they can play against another team’s top line and do the job defensively and hopefully give us some offense. There’s a little chemistry there with Kerfoot and [Landeskog] but we’ve got to make sure we get enough pucks in traffic. It’s a different game without [MacKinnon] and [Rantanen]. It’s a completely different line. It’s probably too early to tell exactly what I’m seeing that they need to do better but we need to get a few more pucks through traffic and to the net.”

The elevation of Kerfoot to bigger minutes has been especially interesting as he has been one of the most efficient scorers in the NHL this season, registering 32 points (12 g, 20 a) in 49 games played while averaging just 13:39 of ice time. His reticence to shoot has been noticeable (his 45 shots on goal are good for 16th on the Avs, just in front of defenseman Patrik Nemeth), especially last night against the Sharks when he literally passed up at least one very good scoring chance trying to make a play to a teammate.

“I think there’s circumstances there,” Bednar said of his pass-first rookie center. “That’s part of his game, he’s an elusive guy, he knows how to find space even in traffic to draw guys to him and open up other guys. There are certain circumstances in a game where I’d like to see him shoot for a rebound a little more, I’d like to see put a few more pucks on net where I think he’s in areas where he can score. So, the simple then is yes. It’s hard to argue with what he’s doing because he makes a lot of plays and sets guys up for chances but I think he can be even more effective at it if he puts a few more pucks at the net.”

With the Blues sitting just five points in front of Colorado, a regulation win would pull the Avalanche within three while also maintaining three games in hand. If Colorado is going to make a successful run to the postseason, winning games against the direct competition is going to be a major factor as Colorado gets into the final 30 games of the season.

Jonathan Bernier will be the starter in net. Varlamov is expected to start Saturday in Carolina against the Hurricanes.