Avs a 'Hungry Group' in San Jose

After not having its best effort on Monday night, the Colorado Avalanche is looking to keep its foot on the gas throughout the entire contest tonight when it wraps up a four-game road trip at the San Jose Sharks.
This evening's matchup is the fourth of the year between the Avs and Sharks. Colorado has a 2-1-0 record in the season series but is coming off a 6-2 loss to San Jose two nights ago.
"I think we are feeling good today, we are rested. We are coming off a trip [that includes] playing a back-to-back and travel, and we've had two off days really since we've been [in San Jose]," said head coach Jared Bednar. "Guys are getting what they need as far as recovery and rest, and I sense that we are a hungry group here this morning. We executed well on the ice, we are skating good, I liked the energy and the juice on the ice here this morning. Hopefully that's a good indication on the way we are going to play tonight."

The Avs opened this four-game trip with a back-to-back sweep at the Arizona Coyotes, earning a 3-2 win on Friday and a 6-2 victory on Saturday. Though the team is 2-1-0 so far on its Western trek, the loss on Monday is not sitting well with the squad.
"I think you look at our record and you wouldn't think we were having these kinds of struggles. It's tough at times with the expectations that we have for our team and our club here," said defenseman Devon Toews. "Consistency is something that we really got to focus on a lot and try to dumb down, and make sure we finish games and play through games and play through that adversity that comes in a game. We had that team at 2-1 with six minutes left in the second, and we ended up losing 6-2. Nobody expects that, nobody is striving for that, but it's happening right now and it's something we got to get rid of."

Through 19 games of the campaign, Colorado is fourth in the West Division with an 11-7-1 mark for 23 points and is third in terms of points percentage at .605.
"I think the biggest thing is just consistency. We've shown stints where we can be a really good hockey team this year and then other nights where we kind of take the night off and then you see the outcome that happened last game," said Brandon Saad. "We got a young team, so I think the biggest thing for us is just touching upon consistency and knowing how good we can be when we show up to play."

LINEUP NOTES

Head coach Jared Bednar said after Colorado's morning skate that the team will use the exact same lineup tonight as it did on Monday, with Philipp Grubauer once again in net.
Grubauer has started 16 of the Avalanche's 19 games so far this year, and his 10 wins are tied for the third-most in the league.
"He's been a rock for us. One of the reasons why we have a good record right now, even in our struggles he is showing up game in and game out," Devon Toews said of his netminder. "That is part of the frustrating part I think for us back there, is some of these games are finishing 6-2 when it's probably a 3-2 hockey game, 4-2 hockey game, something like that. We are giving up these goals late in games that look bad on his side of things, and in hindsight it's on us and we are giving away those easy opportunities and kind of leaving him in the dust. He's been our rock and he's been so steady for us, and we've needed that from him. We just got to be better in front."
View: Avalanche at Sharks Projected Lineup

NOTEWORTHY

Colorado is in the midst of a stretch that finds it playing six games in nine days, 15 games in 26 days (through March 23) and 26 games in 46 days (through April 12)
Nathan MacKinnon needs one assist to pass Alex Tanguay (321) for sole possession of eighth place in franchise history and fourth in Avalanche history.
Tonight is Gabriel Landeskog's 651st career game, passing Anton Stastny (650) for sole possession of eighth place in Colorado/Quebec franchise history. Colorado's captain needs one power-play goal to pass Peter Forsberg (54) for sole possession of fourth place in Avalanche history (since 1995).
The Avs return to Denver on Thursday to begin a nine-game homestand on Friday. After tonight's game, 15 of the team's next 17 contests are at Ball Arena.

ONE TIMERS

Head coach Jared Bednar on Devon Toews' playing more minutes: "His importance is probably unmeasurable at this point with the guys that we have out of the lineup in Makar and Johnson and Byram now. I mean the importance of those veteran guys that are able to play in all situations and play those types of minutes is again, its immeasurable. That is what him and (Samuel) Girard are both doing at this point."

Brandon Saad on how his family is doing after welcoming their second child last week: "They are doing well. Everyone is healthy, so that's the biggest thing. I am looking forward to getting a win tonight and getting home, getting to see them. It's an exciting time for me, and everyone is well and healthy."
Devon Toews on some defensemen having more ice time:"I don't think we think about it, we trust each other back there with the six people we have. We don't really look at it as D-pairs, we look at it as a six-man group. We know we can play with anyone at anytime, and we just kind of go out when we are called upon right now. With a few guys out, it is a little bit of a heavier load for a few of us and I think we are handling it well and we are giving ourselves a chance to win every night."