Recovery a Priority as Avs Begin Busiest Month Ever

The so-called easiest part of the Colorado Avalanche's schedule is behind the team, so to speak. The Avs are in a stretch where they will have less than a day between games for the remainder of the season and now prepares for their busiest month. Ever.
Colorado opens the month of March tonight with a meeting at the San Sharks, the first of 17 games currently scheduled for the club in the month's 31 days. It's the most the franchise has ever played, with it previously playing 16 contests in a month on five other occasions.

"We are going to have a tight schedule right now, lots of games, and we know it," said forward Joonas Donskoi after today's morning skate at SAP Center. "I don't think it's going to be a big problem at all. We are all in good shape. I feel like all of us had a good offseason, so we're ready to go."
The Avs are also in a stretch that has them playing six games in nine days, with them having just finished a consecutive-night set at the Arizona Coyotes last weekend, winning both outings.
The upcoming months won't be any easier either as the Avs are presently scheduled to play 16 games in 30 days in April, and May currently features five in eight days. Colorado's remaining 38 regular-season outings will be squeezed into the next 69 days, and the team also has five more back-to-backs to play as well.
For the most part, the Avalanche will be taking it day-by-day for the next 10 weeks.
"You know that you're coming every morning and trying to focus on the game at hand that night, and that's pretty much what it is," said forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. "The key is going to be to have not too many highs and not be too low. Make sure you keep yourself as consistent as possible really because we have the team to deal with that."
For the most part, on-ice practice time for the club is over. Head coach Jared Bednar said any further teaching with his team this year will be done in video meetings as recovery is taking priority in the days between contests.
"We're trying to give them the time to rest, not just physically but also mentally from the game, so there's lots of days off. Even on the road," Bednar said. "Right now there isn't a lot of practice time. We'll touch on some things in the morning, go for our pregame skate. They have to implement things that we show them on video, but we're not getting a lot of practice time. I don't think anyone in the league is either. I think that's just the way this year's going to go with the schedule as condensed as it is."
The Avalanche closes its four-game road trip on Wednesday in San Jose before heading home to start a nine-game homestand that begins with a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday versus the Anaheim Ducks.
Colorado is currently fourth in the West Division but is just two points out of first place. However, six teams are within four points of one another and with a division-only schedule this year, it's a priority for the Avs to play their best game possible every time out.
"It is just about getting in rest and recover, and hopefully they can go and empty the tank every game night and then get them the rest and recovery they need and go again," said Bednar.

LINEUP NOTES

Head coach Jared Bednar said after morning skate that he isn't making any changes to his lineup following the club's two-game sweep in Arizona.
Goaltender Philipp Grubauer will start for the second-straight contest after stopping 23 shots in Saturday's win, and defenseman Dan Renouf is expected to play in his third career NHL game after making his Avalanche debut in that contest.
Cale Makar did not skate this morning, as Bednar said the young defenseman has returned to Denver. Makar has an upper-body injury that had ruled him out of playing on Saturday in Arizona and in the two-game series at San Jose.

View: Avalanche Projected Lineup vs. Sharks

NOTEWORTHY

Mikko Rantanen will appear in his 300th NHL game tonight and Gabriel Landeskog is set to play in his 650th career game, which will tie him with Anton Stastny for ninth place in Colorado/Quebec franchise history.
The Avs finished February with a 5-3-0 record, their 11th consecutive "winning" month going back to February 2019. It is the longest stretch of consecutive winning months in franchise history, topping the previous high of 10 straight above .500 months from March 2000 to October 2001.
Nazem Kadri shares the team lead with three game-winning goals this year. Since the start of the 2020 playoffs, he is tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews for the most game-winners in the NHL with eight.
This is third meeting of the season between the Avalanche and Sharks and the first in San Jose. Colorado won the previous two contests, sweeping the series at Ball Arena with a 7-3 victory on Jan. 26 and a 3-0 shutout on Jan. 28. The Avs have won four straight games against the Sharks.

ONE TIMERS

Forward Joonas Donskoi on returning to San Jose:
"Coming back here is always nice. I was here for four years, and a lot of good memories. Lots of friends, lots of people that I know. We can't do very much right now, so I wasn't able to go and hang around with anybody but still nice to be back to the rink."
Head coach Jared Bednar on facing the Sharks:
"I look at the Sharks and I feel like they're coming around offensively a little bit here. They were able to put up six the other night against a real good defensive team in St. Louis. Looks like they're skating well, they're moving, I'm sure they're excited to be back home playing games. It's a good team. It's an experienced team. It's a good team that can hurt you in a bunch of different ways offensively."
Bednar on defensemen Samuel Girard and Devon Toews playing 25 or more minutes a game:
"I think it's got to go up. I look around the league, and I touched on it the other day too, Darnell Nurse in Edmonton, he's giving those guys 28-30 minutes a night. I watched [Seth] Jones do the same thing in Columbus. You know all the top guys that play both special teams, they're logging a lot of ice. The pressure is on to win in this league, and those are top guys on their teams, and same thing here with Girard and Toews right now. With the absence of Cale Makar, their numbers are going up and I feel more than comfortable from talking with those guys and watching their play that they can handle it."