Morning Skate Report: Avs Ready To Play At MSG

NEW YORK--The Colorado Avalanche pays a visit to each Eastern Conference team's city once during the season, and tonight the Avs will make their only trip to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Rangers.
"I think anytime you get a chance to play at Madison Square Garden it's a cool experience," said veteran Tyson Barrie. "I know I have always enjoyed playing there, and I think a lot of guys feel the same way. It's a historic building, and it's an easy one to get up for."
The Avalanche did not get a chance to practice on the ice in the building nicknamed "The World's Most Famous Arena," but instead had a morning skate at Chelsea Piers. Located on the west side of Manhattan, the complex has the only year-round ice skating rinks on the island.

"I think they are excited to get out here on this road trip, it's a fun city to come to," said head coach Jared Bednar. "Easy to get up for this game in my opinion. You are playing the Rangers in New York City at MSG, Game 1 of a road trip, not to mention that we didn't have a great outing at home there and we want to make sure we are bouncing back from there and rebounding in a real strong fashion here tonight.
"A little bit of different circumstances at Chelsea Pier here this morning not being able to skate at MSG, so I think the guys came with a great attitude this morning. A lot of juice on the ice, guys kidding around but still focused and the execution was good. I liked the energy, hopefully we can take that into the game tonight."

This evening's matchup is also the first of six straight against Eastern Conference opponents for the Avs. The Avalanche is 2-1-0 against teams from the East so far this season.
After facing the Rangers, Colorado continues its trip on the east coast at the New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, Saturday and Monday, respectively.
"For us, I think we want to make sure that we are focusing on being a good road team," said Bednar. "Last year, we were just OK. We know there are some improvements we can make. Started out with a split on our first short road trip this year and now this is a big one.
"We are playing some tough teams in some tough buildings but again, some of these buildings are easy to get up for. Playing in New York City against the Rangers at MSG is a fun place to be. You know the crowd is going to be into it, enthused, and you want to make sure you are putting your best foot forward so that's easy motivation for us."
The Avalanche is in the midst of a stretch that has the team playing six-of-seven and nine-of-12 in road barns. Despite opening the season with a pair of home games, the club will be on the road for much of the early part of the campaign, playing 11 of its first 17 and 19 of the first 30 away from Pepsi Center.
"I think it's nice to get on the road early and it's a huge trip for us," said Barrie. "It can kind of set us up to have a great start to the year. If we have success on this trip, I think that does just that so it's a big one tonight against New York and we can't really look past that one."
Barrie, who has eight points (two goals, six assists) in eight career outings against the Rangers, is familiar with their head coach, David Quinn, and expects New York to come out strong. Quinn was the bench boss for the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League during Barrie's first year in professional hockey.
"They haven't had the start that they wanted to, so I think they are going to want to try and change that on home ice and they are going to come out hard," Barrie added. "I know Quinny is the head coach there and I played for him. He will have them working hard, so we will have to be ready for that."

VIEW: Avalanche Projected Lineup at Rangers

VARLY IN NET

After practice on Sunday, head coach Jared Bednar noted that goaltender Semyon Varlamov would be between the pipes for the Avalanche.
The Samara, Russia, native is 6-3-0 against the Rangers, including a 5-2-0 mark at Madison Square Garden.
He is 3-0-1 in four starts this season, allowing seven goals on 130 shots. He ranks among the NHL's top 10 netminders in wins (three), goals-against average (1.75) and save percentage (.946).
"He's played really well," said Bednar. "Last year at least he played real well at MSG. I think it is a good spot for him to go and then we'll go back to [Philipp] Grubauer."

DANO'S AVS DEBUT DELAYED

The Avalanche claimed forward Marko Dano on waivers from the Winnipeg Jets on Monday, but the Eisenstadt, Austria, native has not yet joined the team due to immigration paperwork.
"He is a young, skilled player," Bednar said of the new Av. "Has a real sturdiness to his game, can contribute in a bunch of different situations including power play and penalty kill. I think he showed a little bit more of an offensive upside when he was younger.
"With the deep team that Winnipeg has, he probably didn't get as much ice time that he would have liked, and I think we have some ice time that is up for grabs and he can get in the mix on some of that. I'll be interested to see how he plays and comes in here. He has got a great attitude, and he is looking to try and earn some more ice time. We are excited to bring him on board because I think he fits in with our young group."