Valeri Nichushkin out with lower-body injury, Avalanche gear up for playoff-type matchup vs Rangers

Forward Valeri Nichushkin is out with a lower-body injury, which prompted head coach Jared Bednar to move forward Casey Mittelstadt up to the top power-play unit against the New York Rangers.

"He certainly has a skill set that says he should be looked at, you know, in that spot," Bednar said. "Again, we're still experimenting a little bit to see what sort of different looks we can throw at teams and that's certainly a different look putting him on there."

Mittelstadt has been touted to have exceptional play-making skills and good vision on the ice which naturally makes him a fit candidate for that position. 

"I think they do a good job putting me in spots where I'm comfortable and obviously I'm grateful for that," the 25-year-old center said. "I feel comfortable there and on the ice with good players, and good players who draw a lot of attention so hopefully I can find some space and make some plays out there."

Nichushkin's absence is a setback for the Avs as far as size in front of the net goes — which they will have to make up for in puck-handling skill. 

"He's a big piece of our team, especially how big he is, and how strong he is on the puck — obviously our power-play with him in the front," forward Jonathan Drouin said. "We have a new look today with Mittelstadt. I thought we had good reps this morning on the power play and hopefully we bring it to the game." 

The Avalanche lost 2-1 in overtime to the Rangers on Feb. 5 at Madison Square Garden so there is more intensity in this rematch, especially since New York leads the league in points. 

"Obviously they're top of the league right now so got to limit their chances on the power play," defenseman Sean Walker said. "Obviously if we get some chances on our power play, hopefully the big boys will step up and do it but take it with what it is and go out there and play our game and hopefully get a good result." 

Bednar and his staff stressed the importance of his team playing a full 60 minutes to give themselves a chance to win against any tough team. 

"It's all based around our team game and what we need to do and then we pick it some areas that we think we might be able to exploit or things that we have to do against their team to have success but most of the time it leads back to our team game," Bednar said. 

Jonathan Drouin — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Artturi Lehkonen — Casey Mittelstadt — Zach Parise
Miles Wood — Ross Colton — Brandon Duhaime
Jean-Luc Foudy — Yakov Trenin — Andrew Cogliano

Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard — Josh Manson
Jack Johnson — Sean Walker

Alexandar Georgiev
Justus Annunen

The puck drops at 7 p.m. at Ball Arena. The Avalanche can clinch a playoff berth with a win and a St. Louis Blues loss — or if they get a point with an overtime loss, the Blues and Minnesota Wild would have to lose. 

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