10 Observations<\/p>\n
Samuel Girard\u2019s season didn\u2019t start on time. He was in the lineup on opening night, but he didn\u2019t get the same type of preparation as the rest of his teammates.<\/p>\n
The Avalanche\u2019s 27-year-old defenseman missed all of training camp recovering from an injury. He didn\u2019t return until late in the preseason and dressed in one game. Then he played the first two games of the year before an injury kept him out for another month.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis season is just getting going. That\u2019s the truth,\u201d head coach Jared Bednar said. \u201cYou miss the end of summer training, training camp, come back, play a couple of games, and then you\u2019re out for another significant length of time. I think that now you\u2019re hitting the part of the season where everyone\u2019s up and running at full go, and you\u2019re playing catch-up. So that takes a little bit of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s safe to say that Girard is all but caught up at this point. He\u2019s fit nicely on the third pair with Sam Malinski after Josh Manson was moved to the left side to play with Brent Burns following Girard\u2019s injury in October.<\/p>\n
In 21 games, Girard is up to eight points. Six of those have come in the last six games.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s always done a nice job coming back from injuries, but now we\u2019re starting to see his game really start to come around, and hence the production,\u201d Bednar said.<\/p>\n
Colorado\u2019s third pair was a highlight in a game that didn\u2019t have many highlights. It was Scott Wedgewood who shined in goal, and Bednar was adamant that he was the best player on the ice. I don\u2019t think any of us can disagree with him.<\/p>\n
But even aside from Girard\u2019s goal, that pairing with Malinski is starting to click. We\u2019ve already seen Burns and Manson break out, and now the two Sams are rounding out what looks like arguably the deepest defense core this team has had since winning the Stanley Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were moving the puck efficiently. They were defending hard. They weren\u2019t giving up a lot,\u201d Bednar said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t have any troubles versus a rush. Like, there are so many different categories that we evaluate those guys on. But that game tonight \u2014 they\u2019ve played some really good games here recently, both of them and as a pair. That\u2019s a good sign for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
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