While the first three games of the second-round series between the Avalanche and Wild have been inconsistent, Colorado’s fourth line has held steady.
“It’s often the line that we show our other lines. How they get set up and get to spend time in O-Zone play,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “We all know they’re not going to finish off as many chances on most nights as Mac (Nathan MacKinnon) and Marty (Necas) and those guys, but when it comes to the detail of the game — whether it’s forechecking or pushing and reloading and O-Zone play to get the puck back to spend some time in there — they’re a relentless group. And they’re very well connected as a group of three.”
MORE: WTPU: Avalanche scoring was scarce in Game 3 loss to Wild
The trio of Parker Kelly, Jack Drury and Logan O’Connor has not gotten on the scoresheet much, but it has made an impact on the team’s bottom line. Drury and O’Connor each have two points through seven Stanley Cup Playoff games. Kelly has been held scoreless, but has had some Grade-A chances. It is a matter of time before he gets rewarded.
“We just have a baseline. All three of us know what our roles are and what’s going to make our line successful. It’s a pretty simple game plan from our line,” Kelly said. “We try to use our forecheck. All our lines are so good at using the forecheck as a weapon, and we’re going to look to get a little bit back to that tonight. It’s just a simple game plan from us. Building chemistry with Jack and OC, just playing together for a couple of years now, has made it easy.”
Important keys to fourth line success
Effective communication is essential on the ice, and that line has developed a strong bond as a result.
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“Jack and I pride ourselves on trying to make it easy on each other out there. And OC is really good at communicating, too. Just Jack and I played more together this year, with OC being out,” Kelly said. “Jack is constantly talking to me on the ice. I’m trying to do the same to him. OC is a pretty simple player to play with.”
Artturi Lehkonen is out of the lineup for Game 4 due to an upper-body injury. Bednar moved O’Connor up to the third line and put Joel Kiviranta in with Drury and Kelly on the fourth. They have all played together, so chemistry should click quickly.
