Avalanche Room: Colton Assists On Idol’s Final Goal, MacKinnon Talks Record

Avalanche forward Ross Colton on what a win like that can mean heading into the playoffs:

“Yeah, no it was huge. Obviously it was good to score some goals. I thought we did a good job of just limiting them. Obviously, it wasn’t their full lineup, missing a bunch of good guys. Anytime you can take steps in the right direction, especially for us the way we’ve been playing lately, I think that was really good for us.”

Ross Colton on assisting on Zach Parise’s final NHL goal:

“That was unreal. It was pretty special. Ever since he came here, he’s been awesome. I’ve looked up to him since I was in high school, those years of when they were really good with the Devils. He’s been a great leader, he’s been awesome with the questions I’ve asked him about how he plays now, and I’ve asked him a lot of Devils questions as well. He’s been good with answering them.”

Colton on if he knew Parise was there:

“I’ll say yes, but just, we’ll go with that. In reality, probably not, but it worked out.”

Bednar on if he liked what he saw from his Avalanche squad:

“We got it early. I thought we got a little sloppy later on. They didn’t have any of their big guns in the lineup, and we got out to a really good start. Liked what we were doing coming back into our zone, pretty clean first period. Started to turn the puck over a little too much later in the game, just getting away from it, just trying to get through the game, so I didn’t love that part of it.”

Bednar on Valeri Nichushkin getting some goals:

“I think it’s important. Val has a good game, he scores, we know how he can get heated up and can get streaky at times, so for him, finding the back of the net is big for his confidence.”

Bednar on MacKinnon hitting 140 points:

“It’s amazing. You think about all the players that have come through the organization, the seasons they’ve had, the success they’ve had as individuals and as a team, to be at the top of the list now is incredible.”

Bednar on his excitement level heading into the playoffs:

“It’s high. This is why you play and grind 82 games, right? You look forward to it. I can’t say that it’s not a stressful time for a coach, but it’s the best part of the game. We know it’s going to be a grind, every team in the West is deep and strong, and we’re facing a really good team in Winnipeg. It’s going to be a great challenge.”

Bednar on what championship experience can help with:

“The key for me is you’ve been there, you know what it takes. You know how hard it’s going to be, you know what you can expect from the Stanley Cup playoffs.”

Bednar on Parise’s impact on the Avalanche:

“It’s big. It’s another guy that can do a little bit of everything for us, and that experience can go a long way. It’s a guy that’s really hungry to win. He’s going to give us everything he’s got in order to do that. It’s a lot like a guy like Cogliano.”