Meet the new Avs, deeper than the old Avs.
For the moment, also more discombobulated than the old Avs.
On a helter-skelter Friday night all about the five fresh faces in Jared Bednar’s lineup, winger Valeri Nichushkin scored an overtime, power-play winner in his first game action in nearly two months to lift Colorado to a 2-1 victory over Minnesota.
“To be able to come out after not playing for as long as it’s been for him and go get the OT winner, there’s no better start to his return,” Bednar said.
A positive finish, indeed, to Bednar’s get-to-know-you mixer of a night, where he for the first time rolled out four new trade-deadline additions in addition to welcoming back Nichushkin.
If more of the 18,134 on hand here doubled back to the concourse for a game program than normal, they couldn’t be blamed.
All the new faces would be hard to keep straight for a spectator, let alone teammates or a coach on the bench navigating 60-plus minutes against the Minnesota Wild.
“We were a little cute in the first half, but we got it going,” center Nathan MacKinnon said. “It’s a tough game with five new guys. We haven’t had a practice together. It’ll be nice to have a couple days off to get to know each other more, practice more and be ready for a good road trip.”
No such luxury against Minnesota, however. These guys were thrown right into the action.
There was Casey Mittelstadt, acquired Wednesday, centering Colorado’s second line and flanked to his left by Nichushkin, himself playing for the first time since he entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program in January.
“We think an awful lot of (Mittelstadt),” Avs general manager Chris MacFarland said about an hour before the revamped group debuted. “We think he’s going to have a big role here and tonight’s the start. Hopefully it’ll be a good marriage. We’re excited to have him.”
There was Brandon Duhaime, skating against the team that signed his paychecks barely 24 hours before and wearing the No. 12 Avs sweater previously donned by jettisoned center Ryan Johansen.
There was Yakov Trenin popping off the bench to play on Colorado’s top penalty killing unit, which on this night was busy working off eight shorthanded minutes over the first two periods against the Wild.
There was Sean Walker, too, paired with Jack Johnson as the only of the new quartet who actually got to town in time to take part in an optional skate Thursday.
The rest had morning skate Friday, punched in the directions to Ball Arena and cut it loose.
“We’ve uprooted their lives,” MacFarland said. “You make a trade, some of them have families, some of them have children. It might be seamless for some of them and for others it might be systemic structures that take a few games to fit in. But I feel really good about the way our coaches handle these situations and I think the guys in our room are really good at being coaches themselves and helping the players adjust.”
The core also happens to be mighty talented, and they put it on display on the night’s first shift. The Avs’ top line struck 42 seconds into the game when MacKinnon extended his home scoring streak to 32 games by finding Artturi Lehkonen for a first-minute goal.
From there, it was mostly a slog for the better part of two periods. Minnesota’s Brock Faber tied the game with a point-blank look from the right circle midway through the second period.
“It was OK, probably nothing more than what would be expected,” Bednar said. … “Our breakdowns were big breakdowns.”
Avs goaltender Alexandar Georgiev covered up all the others. He saved perhaps his best work for a Mats Zuccarello penalty shot with 5:55 remaining in regulation after Andrew Cogliano pushed a broken stick at him followed closely by a clean walk-in attempt by Frederick Gaudreau.
“I don’t know much about him, I guess, but first impression was very impressive,” Mittelstadt said. “He set the bar very high. He was great tonight.”
Outside the crease, Colorado had an off-kilter night.
That’s going to be part of the learning curve, however, for this re-made group.
“It doesn’t have to be perfect right now, but it does have to be perfect 16 games from now,” Bednar said. “So we’ll just keep building it and reforming the new identity of our team line to line.”
But first, groceries for the newcomers.
“Girlfriend just came in, so just a relaxing day tomorrow, get settled, get some groceries, get unpacked, that whole thing,” Mittelstadt said.
Then to the task of trying to make a run.
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