Avs practice notebook: Mark Barberio's possible return

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Hello Avs fan, coming to you from the press room here at the SAP Center, otherwise known as the Shark Tank. Pick whatever shark metaphor you want to describe these next 30 hours or so, but I’ll go with something like “They’re gonna need a bigger boat” to successfully get into these NHL playoffs. At least, the one that has sailed the metaphorical waters of this road trip thus far.

One player who could join the ship tomorrow is defenseman Mark Barberio. Remember him? After a two-month layoff that started right before the all-star break, Barberio went through a full practice Wednesday, with a regular contact jersey on, and said he hopes to play tomorrow.

Will he, though? Jared Bednar said he might, but will take his time tonight or maybe tomorrow morning to make a final decision on that.

Barberio’s injury remains something of a mystery. I asked if he would disclose it, but he said he’d prefer to wait until after the season maybe. Here is video of him I shot in the dressing room afterward:

Bednar said it could be risky playing a guy in such a big game after missing two months, many of which Barberio couldn’t skate or do much else. But the fact is, the Avs could really use a bigger, more physical, veteran D-man right now for these next two games. It may be a risk he’s willing to take.

Barberio sounds ready to play if asked.

OTHER NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

• Mikko Rantanen didn’t practice. He spent the time doing off-ice conditioning, including a stationary bike ride. He will play Thursday. Nail Yakupov took his place on a line with Gabe Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon.
• The Avs worked hard on their offensive-zone play at practice. “Against L.A, especially, we were getting caught a little bit on the perimeter of the offensive zone, and not getting to the interior of the ice enough,” Bednar said. “We want to make sure that we solidify our attack mentality.”
• It was a loose bunch of guys in the dressing room afterward. A lot of razzing going on, which is always a good sign. It’s the teams where players feel they can’t kid each other that you worry about chemistry-wise. Last year’s Avs team, for instance. One case in point: Landeskog walked past Nikita Zadorov, put a hand on his shoulder and said with much sarcasm, “Z, you were really good out there today.” To which he replied, ‘Yeah, a lot better than my (D) partner.'”
• Jonathan Bernier was back to wearing a white, generic mask at practice. Not sure if that means he’s wearing it in the game tomorrow or not.