Avs have options in net: Varly, Bernier
The Avalanche’s silver lining from Thursday night’s 7-1 loss at home to Los Angeles was getting goalie Jonathan Bernier some playing time in net after starter Semyon Varlamov was pulled when the Kings took a 5-1 lead.
Bernier had missed the previous five games, and 13-of-16, because of the effect of concussions. He took a hard shot off the helmet March 10 against Arizona in his first game back since suffering his first head injury Feb. 16 at Winnipeg.
“I would say that’s the one positive out of this game,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said Thusday night. “We get an opportunity with the score going the way it was to get (Bernier) back in the net and get him to play some minutes. I thought he looked sharp, square, real calm and controlled early on.”
Bernier is 18-11-2 in 32 appearances and Varlamov has a 21-15-6 record in 46 games — playing in 19 consecutive. The Avs — who currently sit in the first of two Western Conference wild-card playoff slots — plan on playing Varlamov and Bernier in the last eight regular-season games. But Bednar is going back with Varlamov on Saturday against the visiting Vegas Golden Knights.
Bernier could get the call Monday at Vegas when Colorado concludes a home-and-home set against the playoff-bound expansion team.
“Looking at his history after a tough game, he’s been really good,” Bednar told NHL.com’s Rick Sadowski after practice Friday. “Got a little rest, had a good practice today — short, quick practice — so we like the way he’s played, so we’re going to go back with him.”
But clearly, the Avs are a better team with both their veteran goalies available. “We got two guys we can lean on here to the finish,” Bednar said.
Vegas comes to Colorado on the verge of clinching a playoff berth and just six points behind Nashville for first place in the Western Conference.
“They’re a hardworking team,” Bednar said. “One of the similarities to them and L.A. is they’re going to wait for you to make mistakes, or force you into mistakes. They’re a patient group, willing to come at you the same way the whole night. We’ve done a good job of that as a team for quite some time.
“(Thursday) night was not one of those nights. We can’t have any passengers, because they’re a deep team. They play everyone. They come at you in waves.”
Soderberg update.
Second-line center Carl Soderberg practiced Friday after missing two games because of an illness. He will play against the Golden Knights, reunited with wingers Matt Nieto and Blake Comeau. The Avs replaced Soderberg with rookies Dominic Toninato and Vladislav Kamenev in the last two games, and Soderberg was clearly missed.