MacKinnon Set to Return Wednesday vs. Coyotes

After missing three games with an upper-body injury, Nathan MacKinnon is set to return to the lineup for the Colorado Avalanche's game on Wednesday against the Arizona Coyotes.
"I do expect him to play tomorrow, and it should give us a big lift," Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said on Tuesday. "This is one of the top players in the world, and he's our on-ice leader and we need him. We need that offensive punch."

The Avs went 1-1-1 in the three games without MacKinnon in the lineup and are coming off a 3-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes.
In that outing, Colorado played well and outshot Arizona 35-14, but the club couldn't finish on the opportunities it was creating and fell to the Coyotes for the first time this season. The Avs will aim to have the same effort but with a crisper execution in the offensive zone when they host the Yotes again on Wednesday.
"You look at last night for example, we played hard defensively, we did a lot of good things, we had good tempo to our game, we put up 35 shots, and we had some really good scoring chances, but fact of the matter is we are not capitalizing on enough of our chances," Bednar said. "Nate, when he gets into scoring areas and draws attention to himself, he's usually ending up with a real good chance or his linemates are. The top players tend to finish off more of their scoring chances than other guys, and we need to finish them off right now, so its going to be a big lift for us to get him back."
Through 19 games this season, the Halifax, Nova Scotia, native's 17 assists lead the team, and his 22 points are second on the squad.
When he was injured in last Wednesday's outing at the San Jose Sharks, MacKinnon was on a four-game point streak with one goal and three helpers in the stretch. He has found the scoresheet in all but five of his contests this year.
With MacKinnon coming back, that leaves forward J.T. Compher (upper body), defensemen Bowen Byram (upper body), Dennis Gilbert (upper body), Erik Johnson (upper body), Cale Makar (upper body) and Conor Timmins (upper body) and goaltender Pavel Francouz (lower body) on Colorado's injured list.
Bednar said on Tuesday that Byram and Makar continue to skate on their own, but he didn't have an estimate ono when the young blueliners could return to game action.
"Until I kind of hear from our medical staff or from Cale himself that he is good and ready to play, or gearing up to play our next game, then I don't know when that is going to be," Bednar said of Makar's recovery. "It could be as early as tomorrow or it could be two months from now, I have no idea. My statement last game was the only guy that I am convinced is coming back tomorrow or anytime in the very near future is Nate because that's the only guy I have information on that says, 'yeah I am ready to go and I am playing.'"
Gilbert was on the ice for the optional skate on Tuesday as a non-contact participant and donned a full-face shield. He last played on Feb. 16 at the Vegas Golden Knights and suffered an upper-body injury in the contest that required surgery. He was initially given a four-to-six week timeline for his recovery.

ONE TIMERS

Jared Bednar on the optional practice:"The reality of it is that we probably have some guys that need to get some time on the ice. It would be great to have a team practice, but we have six healthy D and when you have a handful of guys that you do not want on the ice, i.e. Makar, [Samuel] Girard--guys that are looking 25-30 minutes a night. You can't have a team practice with three or four D, so that is why it's optional. Guys can get what they need, and that's different for most every guy on our roster. We got some guys playing 10 minutes that probably could use some more (practice time), we got guys playing 15 that could use just a little bit and then we have our big-minute guys that probably don't need anything especially on the ice--just need recovery and rest and get fueled up and ready for tomorrow. So that's why these days are going to be optional pretty much for the whole year."
Jacob MacDonald on playing more: "I've felt good. Just being prepared for this through practices and pregame skates and stuff like that. Just being able to go out there and play my game. The biggest thing is the guys in the room have confidence in me, and I have confidence in myself to go out and play in those increase minutes and play my role. It's been good, and I've had a lot of fun too."
Jayson Megna on getting the game-feeling back:"Obviously the more time you get, the first couple games back, especially after a year [off], you got butterflies and you want to make simple plays. I think as time goes on here, and I've been fortunate enough to play some more games, you start to get more comfortable to make plays and some better puck decisions. Blessed to be back up, especially with a team as good as this one, just trying to contribute in any way I can. It has definitely been a great experience. I've worked hard to get back here, and hopefully it pays off."