Relentless puck hound Logan O’Connor will further his NHL career by becoming a top-six forward for the Avalanche in Thursday’s game against the Blues in St. Louis. O’Connor, the former University of Denver standout who gave up his senior year in 2018 to sign with the Avs as an undrafted free agent, will be the right winger on Colorado’s second line.
“O.C.” will play with center Nazem Kadri and left wing Gabe Landeskog as the Avs — who rank 22nd in NHL offense through six games — try to improve on their 2.50 goals-per-game clip. Colorado (2-4) has lost three of its last four games but O’Connor has been a bright spot.
“He has been a consistent worker — forecheck, retrieving pucks, keeping pucks alive, hard in the battles to help us come up with pucks and be able to play in the offensive zone (and) discipline with the puck in the neutral zone,” Avs coach Jared Bednar after Wednesday’s practice. “So he’s the guy, for me, that he’s doing all the right things and playing the right way, and that second line — some of our lines — are missing that element. So it’s a good spot for him there. That’s why I have Landy with him there, too.”
J.T. Compher has been dropped to the third line and the struggling Andre Burakovsky was brought up to the first line, trading spots with Landeskog, in an effort to get him going with center Nathan MacKinnon and right winger Mikko Rantanen.
Burakovsky has just a goal and two points in six games, with a minus-5 rating.
“It’s not good enough,” Bednar said of his play.
O’Connor, 25, was a fabulous forechecker and penalty killer at DU, and he has brought those traits to the Avs. He has developed an excellent wrist shot and has shown significant offensive potential.
“I feel as though last year and years past, I’ve had good opportunities but I haven’t exactly capitalized on those chances,” said O’Connor, who is beginning his fourth full pro season. “And I think with my speed I can put myself in good situations. You just have to bear down offensively because goaltending is so good in this league. You’ve got to be deceptive with your shot, change the angle of your shot, and that’s what separates the good goal scores from guys that don’t score as many. So I’m just constantly trying to dial that into my game.”
Apologetic, sort of. Avs defenseman Jack Johnson on Wednesday spoke about his big hit on Vegas’ Keegan Kolesar in the second period of Tuesday’s 3-1 loss to the visiting Golden Knights. Johnson was assessed an interference major and game misconduct for the hit, plus a major for fighting after Vegas forward Nicholas Roy attacked him in response to the hit.
Johnson, who got the better of Roy in the fight, appeared to deliver the big hit on Kolesar before the forward could catch a pass up the boards near the Knights’ bench. The Avs said it could have been an interference minor but the hit itself was clean.
“I thought it was a suicide pass,” Johnson said. “I tried to time it as best as I could and just finish the play at the blueline. Other than that, that’s all I can offer you for obvious reasons.”
Johnson doesn’t want to get fined by the league for what he really thinks about his interference major and game misconduct.
“I like to give you guys honesty and answers,” he said. “I can’t give you my honest opinion on that. And I apologize for that.”
Footnotes. Bednar said defenseman Sam Girard will miss his second game on Thursday with the upper-body injury he suffered in overtime on Saturday at Tampa Bay. Girard skated on his own before Monday’s practice but is not fit to return. The coach also said defenseman Devon Toews, who has been cleared for controlled contact after undergoing off-season shoulder surgery, will travel with the team but won’t play against the Blues. … Forward Tyson Jost took a maintenance day but will play on the third line with Compher and rookie Sampo Ranta on Thursday.
