DENVER — It's no secret the Colorado Avalanche have explored the market in search of a solution at third-line center, but Jack Drury made his case Monday night that the answer may already be in-house.

Over the past seven games, Drury had been pushed down to the fourth-line center role, while Ross Colton—who is generally more effective on the wing—handled duties at 3C. But in Monday's 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings, Jared Bednar restored Drury to the third-line center spot, giving the 25-year-old Drury a chance to show why no changes are necessary. He made the most of it.

Drury opened the scoring after Colton stripped the puck away from Los Angeles forward Alex Turcotte along the right wing, looked up, and found Drury streaking down the middle of the ice with his eyes lit up. The two connected and Drury snapped a quick wrist shot that glanced off Anton Forsberg's blocker and into the net, giving the Avalanche an early lead.

In his first game back at 3C since December 7—when the Avalanche earned a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers—Drury delivered an impressive performance and played a significant role in securing the victory. Even dating back to last season, Drury and Colton have shown strong chemistry, consistently complementing one another on the ice. The Hockey News asked Drury whether returning to the third line and reuniting with Colton provided a boost of confidence.

"Yeah," Drury stated. "I've said this before, no matter who you're playing with here, when you're playing with good players and Ross is definitely one of those. He plays with so much speed; he's a hard forechecker, and he has a ton of skill on top of that, so playing with him makes it easy out there."

The Hockey News kicked off Tuesday's post-game news conference by asking Bednar to evaluate Drury's performance, and the head coach didn't hesitate. He was impressed. 

"I liked him a lot tonight," Bednar said. "I thought he was going right from the start; the (third) line was going. I thought they played with really good energy and did a nice job, not just on the attack and getting that goal, Colton strips (Turcotte), makes a nice play on it, but on the (defensive) side, too. They had some tough matchups tonight and did a nice job."

Still, one standout performance won't be enough to sway Bednar. It never is. What he will be looking for is consistency—a sustained stretch of reliable, impactful play from Drury. It's no secret that Colorado is, at the very lest, exploring the market for answers at third-line center and this remains a very much a prove-it moment. The opportunity is there. What comes next is on Drury.

If he fails to meet Bednar's expectations, a return to the fourth-line role is the likely outcome—one he is more than capable of handling. But should the Avalanche decide to address the position externally, the cost would almost certainly include a defenseman, and Sam Malinski won't be sacrificed.

In 38 games this season, Drury has tallied six goals and six assists for 12 points. However, he's on pace to post a career-high 13 goals and 13 assists for 26 points. Drury scored a career-best 27 points with the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2023-24 season.

All eyes will be on Drury on New Year's Eve as the Avalanche face the St. Louis Blues, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. local time.

There will be fireworks after the final horn. For Drury, the real sparks have to fly during the game.