DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche are piling up wins on the ice — and babies off it. It’s been a full-blown baby boom around the team this season. 

Scott Wedgewood’s wife, Brittany, gave birth to their second child Thursday morning, but the diaper duty doesn’t stop there. Devon Toews’ wife is expecting, and Victor Olofsson’s wife is also preparing to welcome the couple's second child.

Head coach Jared Bednar knows firsthand what his players are experiencing. A father of two, Bednar shares two children with his wife, Susan. At Friday’s morning skate, he was asked what it’s like navigating the season with four players’ wives all expecting at the same time. 

“Well…,” Bednar said with a laugh. “You’ve got to be flexible. That’s what it comes down to. Wedge isn’t here this morning. (His wife) had the baby yesterday morning. Everyone is doing great, which is awesome, and he’ll be backing up tonight for (Mackenzie) Blackwood. 

“We’re going to have a few more of these coming here before too long, so you just have to stay flexible and basically keep your phone on.” 

Overall, it’s been a busy season in the baby department for the Avalanche. Logan O’Connor, who has not played since the end of last season after undergoing a second hip surgery, welcomed a baby boy with his wife, Kendra, two months ago. Captain Gabriel Landeskog, who is currently out with broken ribs, saw his wife give birth to their third child last year.

Avalanche forward Joel Kiviranta is returning to the lineup this evening for the first time in nearly a month after getting tripped into the boards, which led to a lower-body injury. Unfortunately, that means someone has to come out tonight. Bednar revealed that Ross Colton has been scratched from the lineup after suffering a lower-body injury late in Wednesday’s 2–1 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks. The prognosis is good, however, as Colton is expected to be out day to day. 

The Avalanche (34-5-9) host Trevor Zegras and the Philadelphia Flyers (23-17-9) tonight at Ball Arena. Colorado has made a habit of striking first for much of the season, but in recent games the Avs have found themselves chasing from behind more often than usual. Philadelphia, meanwhile, has done just the opposite — jumping out to early leads — though its play in the latter stages of games has grown increasingly inconsistent. 

With that in mind, The Hockey News asked Bednar whether the message tonight is to fight fire with fire, as the Avalanche look to close out their seven-game homestand on a positive note. 

“Love to,” Bednar stated. “That’s kind of always our message at home. We’ve had a handful of games at home where we jumped out to early leads and had quick starts, and it’s carried us through the whole game. It’s not always possible, but I think, being the last game of the homestand and being as rested as we can be at this point… I think, yeah, no reason why we can’t get out to a good jump off the drop of the puck. That will have to do with the way we skate; I thought we skated really well in the last game. Make our forecheck a factor tonight, and just puck decisions, and just make it tough on them. Make it tough on them to come 200 feet to get to our end to try and create anything.”