No. 1 goalie job will go to whoever wants it most

WINNIPEG, Manitoba – There is no goalie controversy with the Colorado Avalanche. Whoever plays the best, game to game, will be the man to coach Jared Bednar. Simple. Nothing controversial about that.

Semyon Varlamov was the No. 1 guy, but then he suffered another injury to his groin and backup Jonathan Bernier went on a tear that rivaled some of the best goaltending for a double-digit game stretch that this organization has ever seen – and a guy named Patrick Roy once played here.

Varlamov returned to the net Saturday night here in Winnipeg and, while he was the loser, it certainly wasn’t much his fault. His teammates gave him a big, fat Tim Horton’s donut hole in offensive support. Who will get the net for Tuesday’s game, at home against San Jose?

Probably Bernier, based on Bednar’s pregame decree that essentially said “Whoever is the hotter goalie will play the next game.”

Bernier has been the winner in 11 of his last 14 starts and, frankly, has more trust from his teammates right now than Varlamov. Not that anybody distrusts Varly, but Bernier really earned a lot of respect in the room on that 10-game winning streak.

And yet, Varlamov is the guy earning $5.9 million a year, who went into the season as the top guy. Should he have been entitled to the No. 1 job when he returned from injury? In most occasions, the answer would be yes, but Bernier’s hot streak changed the equation. Really, I think this is his job to lose right now. Thing is, he could lose it with two mediocre starts in a row.

Bedar is probably hoping there is a bit of sharp-elbowed competition between the two right now. With Nathan MacKinnon gone for two to four weeks, the Avs are going to need their goalie to be the big star for a while probably.

It should be an interesting battle to watch.

OTHER AVS ITEMS, TIDBITS, ETC. 

• I think the Avs not only are missing MacKinnon already, but the absence of Sven Andrighetto is starting to really be felt. He runs hot and cold as a scorer, but the Avs could really use his stick right now. We’ll find out Monday at practice how close he is to a return.
• I discussed this on the podcast last night with A.J., but I also think maybe it’s time to go back to the 11 forward, seven defensemen lineup that Bednar found some success with before. Right now, the Avs have too many forwards who aren’t scoring much. I’d rather one of their spots go to keeping the defense fresher in what figure to be lower-scoring games without MacKinnon.
• This month is just brutal, schedule-wise. Not so much because of the opponents, but because of so many road games, packed in tight. For instance, after one game at home Tuesday, the Avs are back on the road for games in St. Louis, Carolina and Buffalo, the latter two back-to-backs. That’s a lot of geography to cover in there. Then they come all the way home, play one game against Montreal and then right back on the road again for four of the next five on the road – all in Canadian cities.