Injuries have given Bednar a chance to experiment, and the Avalanche’s defense has responded with impressive results.
DENVER — Injuries can derail a team—or reveal hidden strengths. For the Avalanche, the absence of one player has given rise to a defensive pairing that has exceeded expectations.
With Samuel Girard sidelined week-to-week due to an upper-body injury, Bednar turned to waiver acquisition Ilya Solovyov, slotting him into the lineup. To accommodate the change, Sam Malinski was shifted back to his natural right side to form the third pairing with Solovyov, while Manson joined offseason acquisition Brent Burns on the second pair. Though both are right-handed, Manson has taken the left side, and the duo has quickly established itself as a dynamic presence on the ice. Manson scored the go-ahead goal on a one-timer off a feed from Burns Saturday night against the Boston Bruins en route to a 4-1 win at Ball Arena.
Bednar offered insight into why the pairing has meshed so effectively.
“Well, they’re two big bodies that are both hard to play against,” he stated. “They’re closing plays out in the D zone quickly. They’ve done a nice job up ice vs. the rush.”
But it’s not just one pairing—Bednar has been impressed with the entire defensive corps. He elaborated that the team is experimenting with various combinations early in the season, making this an ideal time to evaluate different looks.
“We talked about it earlier in the year; I just wanted to look (at a different approach),” Bednar added. “Sam (Malinski) is slotted in the right side right now and he’s played a couple of really good games back-to-back here. He looks more comfortable over there, but he’s still playing left in these games as well.
“We’re just juggling them around a little bit so we can split up (Devon Toews) and (Cale Makar) a little bit and get them playing with everybody, too. But with the addition of Burns and the way Manson’s playing and Sam, the group looks good back there and we feel confident with any of them on the ice and we now have a couple of righties shifting over to the left side to help us out.”
Comparing the Avs at This Point Last Season
Through six games this season, the Avalanche boast a 5-0-1 record and have surrendered just nine goals in that span. By contrast, on opening night a year ago, Colorado allowed eight goals in the first game, spoiling Mikko Rantanen’s hat trick. The team ultimately stumbled out of the gate with a 2-4 record, conceding 29 goals over that stretch.
Following their 2022 Stanley Cup championship, rather than re-signing Darcy Kuemper, the Avalanche turned to Alexandar Georgiev, then the backup goaltender for the New York Rangers. The results were, to put it mildly, less than ideal. This year’s roster has all the makings of a legitimate contender once again—but sustained health will be the key to maintaining that trajectory.
Next Game
The Avalanche hit the road to square off against the Utah Mammoth Tuesday at Delta Center. Puck drop is at 8 p.m. local time.