No Power For Avs With The Extra Man

The difference in Friday night's game was simple for Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar. It was the club's inability to score with an extra player on the ice.
"I think if you look at the game and you say we gave up nine shots in the first 30 minutes, we're defending well," Bednar said. "We're playing hard 5-on-5. We're hemming them in their zone at times, doing a lot of good things. It was an extension of last game. Now the power play, 0-for-6 and give up a shorty; that is the difference in the hockey game and the wrong way. We need our power play to win us games, and tonight it was a difference maker for them."

Colorado had its most man-advantage opportunities since Nov. 6 against the St. Louis Blues but only generated six total shots, none of which found the back of the net in the Avalanche's 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers at Pepsi Center.
With the game still scoreless, the Avs had three power plays in the first 10 minutes of the second period but couldn't take advantage. Fedor Tyutin scored 16 seconds after the last one expired, but the Panthers got it back to knot the contest once again going into the third.
"If [the power play] gets us one at any point in the second, it's a different game because we're playing good hockey at that point," Bednar said. "We give up a shorty, and then it becomes a deterrent and now we're chasing the game."

Reilly Smith's short-handed goal at 6:37 of the final stanza ended up being the turning point of the night. Smith got behind Colorado's defense for a breakaway and placed a backhand shot five-hole on Calvin Pickard.
Florida added to its lead four minutes later, and the Avalanche couldn't recover.
"We had a breakdown on the power play and they got a shorthanded one, and it kind of deflated us and then they got another one," said Avs D-man Tyson Barrie. "That's frustrating because that's a big period for us. We're 1-1 going into the third, and we've lost a bunch in a row at home and to blow it like that is embarrassing."

Captain Gabriel Landeskog said the Avalanche didn't control the puck enough during its 12 minutes worth of time having the extra skater.
"Even though you're outnumbering them on the power play 5-on-4, you have to outnumber them on the battles, and you got to be hungrier than they are and you got to outwork them," Landeskog said. "Even though there is one more guy on the ice, you have to find ways to outwork them and we didn't do that."
Bednar acknowledged after the contest that the Panthers deserved some credit for shutting down the Avs' power-play units. Florida entered with the fifth-best penalty kill in the league and had killed off 28 of its last 30 shorthanded chances entering the game
However, that's not an excuse for Colorado's inability to score with the extra man.
"We didn't have enough, and if we had enough, we certainly didn't capitalize on them," Bednar said of the opportunities created with the man advantage. "There are no moral victories for us on the power play tonight. There were a couple power plays that were pretty good, and too many that weren't. We need them to get us one if we get six opportunities. That's the truth."

VARLAMOV CLOSE TO A RETURN

Goaltender Semyon Varlamov continues to progress from his minor groin injury and is likely to be on the team's upcoming two-game road trip.
Varlamov missed his second straight contest on Friday, but he did participate in the Avs' morning skate and is set to take part in a full practice on Saturday before the club departs for Winnipeg. He could play Sunday afternoon against the Jets but is more likely to return to the crease Tuesday at the Minnesota Wild.
"If he makes the trip, then I would like to see him play," said head coach Jared Bednar on Friday morning. "Now Sunday is an early game, we'll have to talk to the trainers on how he'll look for Sunday, but if he practices tomorrow and maybe gets on the ice on Sunday and [could] be ready for Minny."
Varlamov's last game was on Sunday in Toronto where he made 51 saves in Colorado's victory. Calvin Pickard has started the last two contests.

GELINAS GETTING TIME

Defenseman Eric Gelinas was in the Avalanche's lineup for the third consecutive game and 12th time overall this season.
Gelinas, who was previously a healthy scratch for seven of eight contests, has now played in five of the last seven.
"Being in and out is tough on the confidence," Gelinas said Friday morning. "Being a regular and playing good minutes and stuff, I think it feels good. It kind of shows you that the coaches are starting to trust you and that feels good, for sure."
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound blueliner is one of the players that is getting an opportunity to showcase his skills while Erik Johnson is out with a leg injury. Johnson broke his fibula during the Dec. 3 game versus Dallas and is expected to miss at least another month.
Gelinas finished Friday's contest with three shots, three hits and two blocked shots in 11:14 of ice time.