Shane O’Brien will be back in the lineup, and Greg Zanon a healthy scratch.

Here is McGinn on his being a healthy scratch for Wednesday’s game: “It’s obviously not the position I wanted to be in, but the way I was playing, it was expected. I’m just happy to be back in. My performance the last couple weeks hasn’t been up to my capabilities. I’ve got to be better, be more physical. It was a wake-up call.”

And here is Jones on his recent struggles: “I’ve got to just play my game and if I get some chances, bury them. It’s a good chance to go back in tonight and hopefully I can make something happen.”

Has the big contract put more pressure on him, or has it affected his play? “I don’t think so. It’s something you earn, and I think I earned it. Obviously, other people ask me about it all the time. When you get a big deal, they expect you to produce, but it’s a game and sometimes the puck just doesn’t go in. I’ve just got to keep working, it’s all I can control. It comes with the territory, and obviously it’s been frustrating the way things have been going, but all I can do is go out and have a good game tonight and try and get back at it.”

A couple players did not take the optional skate, including Matt Duchene and Erik Johnson. Both will play, with Semyon Varlaov in net. Kari Lehtonen will be in goal for the 11th straight game for the Stars.

When Joe Sacco announced this morning that David Jones and Jamie McGinn would be healthy scratches, these were a few of the tweets sent out (names of tweeters not included):
- can sacco be a healthy scratch, maybe get someone in there who can provide the team with something?
- this is pathetic. Tell Sacco to scratch himself
- #benchsacco
- my god, Sacco is panicking
- cause that’s gonna help us score goals

And so on, and so on. Sacco gets the last laugh tonight. He moved Chuck Kobasew up on the lines, and he responded with a plus-4 effort and the game-winning goal. Mark Olver was put back in the lineup and he had a goal and assist (they took away what would have been his second assist, and gave it to Ryan O’Reilly on the game-winner by Kobasew). Cody McLeod got more ice time on the top lines in place of Jones/McGinn and, while he didn’t get a point, he was involved in the play a lot.

Bottom line is, Sacco’s changes looked good. But here’s the thing: he can’t get away with this for too long. Sorry, but if Kobasew and Olver now have to be relied upon to be the big point producers going forward, it’s not going to work. Sacco’s challenge will be somehow to get more out of guys like Kobasew and Olver on the third and fourth lines over the long term, and not just for one game on a grab-bag bunch of lines on the top six (there were so many different lines tonight, honestly I couldn’t keep up anymore).

Sacco’s bigger challenge: how to get regular production again out of guys like Jones and McGinn. Why hasn’t that happened so far?

Let’s start with Jones: You, me, everyone who has watched Jones regularly since he came to the Avs out of Dartmouth (which I’ll admit, plays on my heartstrings a bit) has seen a player with talent and a very good shot and good skating ability. After watching him this long, though, I have to say the problem, as I see it, is he just doesn’t go to the greasy areas enough. I feel like he’s always trying to wheel and deal and get quick shots off instead of what he should do more: plant himself in front of the net more and just wait for rebounds to come to him and put them back in. Especially on the power play. He needs to learn how to play a game more like a great rebounder in basketball; just use his big body to position himself to get the object in play, in this case a puck. If he does that, I think he gets 25 goals a year easy. He’s scored 20 and 27 his last two years, so obviously he’s shown a talent for scoring.

But this year? He’s just kind of dancing around too much instead of staking out terra firma in front of the net and becoming a greasy goal scorer. He doesn’t have the wheels of his first couple years, not after a serious knee injury. He’s more of a grinding skater now, instead of a real flier, but he’s not playing like a grinder like he should.

McGinn? I think he has generally been better than his numbers show. 13 points (four goals) in 28 games. Not great, but he is leading the team in shots on goal (86) and has hit the post a bunch of times (which don’t count as shots on goal). Sacco’s big criticism of McGinn this morning was that he hasn’t been consistently physical enough. And Sacco is probably right on that, but I think he may be talking about the defensive end as much as the offensive end.

I’ve noticed McGinn’s intensity drop off a bit in the defensive end, or at least his physical intensity. He’s got to dig for pucks in the D-zone as hard as he does in the goal-scoring areas of the other end, where I don’t think he’s had a problem. He just hasn’t had enough of his shots go in, but I think he works in the offensive end. Not as much in the other one.

So, Sacco benched both of ‘em and he got the right responses out of guys like Olver and Kobasew. But, again, this team isn’t going anywhere if Jones and McGinn are to sit in street clothes every night. Getting one good game out of those guys was great, but the challenge for Sacco is to get a reset of everyone going back to their regular roles and playing like they should.

- – - – - – - –
Other observations:
- When does Paul Stastny get a night off because of his play? Frankly, I thought he was not good again tonight. Listen, Stastny is a great guy and it’s nothing personal, but I just think he needs to be better and I saw another kind of lackluster result tonight. One nitpicky thing: on the Stars’ second goal of the night, by Trevor Daley, Stastny was right in the path of Daley’s attempted shot, which wound up going in. But instead of stand there and taking the blocked shot, Stastny kept skating by, and I think he served enough of a screen to Semyon Varlamov to confuse him on the shot, react late and let a short-side shot beat him through the 5-hole.

Where is the toughness and leadership there? Where is the self sacrifice, to block a routine shot? Instead, Stastny just floated around in the D-zone that whole shift and the puck wound up in the back of his net – something that has happened a lot this year when he’s been on the ice.

Stastny was a minus-2 tonight with one shot on goal. When does he get his wake-up call healthy scratch? I think he’s been coddled a bit too much here, frankly. I don’t mean that in as mean a way as it sounds. I just think that the Avs somehow think he’s above reproach, and I don’t see why. And if he’s not going to score at all, at least he should pull his socks up and take a simple blocked shot for the team once in a while.

- The defense remains a mess. There were a lot of breakdowns again tonight. Semyon Varlamov did a good job of keeping it just a 2-0 game from the later minutes of the first period until midway through the second, when things could have really fallen through the floor. I don’t know what Sacco can do to fix his defense, other than pray.

- O’Reilly was huge in the third. That was the leader of last year, the guy who made the big plays in a lot of games late.

- Kobasew was brilliant. He’s a guy I ripped on a lot last year, but I’ve been impressed with his work ethic this year, despite being relegated to the bottom lines before tonight. Nice to see him get rewarded.

- – - – - –
A couple links:
- The view from the opposing city, the story from the Dallas Morning News.

- A good account from a local Denver blog.

Finally, happy 65th birthday Bobby Orr! What a legend. He made my childhood better. Thanks.

So you’re saying there’s a chance? Well, yeah, 3.5. That’s according to the excellent site Sportsclubstats.com.

My story on the Avs’ scratching of Jones and McGinn for tonight is up here.

I’ll weigh in with more thoughts on that in a postgame blog tonight.

Avalanche skated today, everybody but forwards David Jones and John Mitchell, who both presumably took the day off to rest and nurse minor injuries. The line combinations were very different, but probably because of the two absences, so don’t read too much into these:

Landeskog-Duchene-Hejduk
McLeod-O’Reilly-Palushaj
Parenteau-Stastny-Kobasew
McGinn-Olver-Bordeleau

Defenseman Ryan Wilson, who has missed the past two games and 17 of the last 20 with a nagging ankle injury, practiced but is expected to return to IR to make room for a call-up defenseman from Lake Erie. I’m expecting it to be Tyson Barrie, who, among the Avs top eight D, is the only one on a two-way contract. He’s making $67,500 (prorated) with Lake Erie and $690,000 (prorated) with the Avs. Do I think that played a part in his March 12 demotion to Lake Erie? Maybe.

Did the Avs ownership tighten its belt that much after matching the Ryan O’Reilly deal? Wouldn’t surprise me (and i

t was already super tight). Who did the Avs add after Steve Downie suffered a season-ending knee injury? Aaron Palushaj, a great pickup at $600,000 (prorated). Maybe Dater’s math professor can run the numbers and see how much the Avs “saved” with Barrie in the AHL the past week. It may or may not be why he was demoted, but the savings would be interesting to know.

Matt Hunwick is practicing with a visor. He’s trying to get used to it, but doesn’t plan to wear it in games yet. Yet. Generously listed at 5-11, Hunwick said he was reminded of the dangers of playing without a visor from the Marc Staal incident.

Here’s a video I shot after today’s practice. The young man’s name is “Pige,” full name and accurate spelling uncertain, and his best friend is Avs defenseman Shane O’Brien. Pige helps with laundry and stuff, and he and O’Brien talk after most practices, and today they were going to lunch with an Altitude camera crew, after shooting some footage inside the locker room.

O’Brien opened the segment talking about how Pige reminds him how lucky he is, especially after tough losses, and that nothing is more important than good friends and good health. The audience includes Erik Johnson, Gabe Landeskog and Matt Duchene.

And finally, here’s Cody McLeod posing today after taking a puck to the nose in Monday’s 5-2 loss to the Blackhawks. That’s a hockey player.

Keep tabs with Mike Chambers on Twitter: @MChambersDP

I have a story online about 2010 Avs first round pick Joey Hishon’s return tonight for the Lake Erie Monsters against the Toronto Marlies in Cleveland.
A lot of you have asked if you can see it on TV anywhere. Answer: no. But you can listen to the game live, starting at 5 p.m. mountain, by clicking here.

I talked with Hishon this morning, and he’s obviously excited. He credits Dr. Ted Carrick – the same Atlanta/Florida based doctor who was credited with curing Sidney Crosby’s concussion – for turning his life around for the better.
Here is a great article about Carrick and his methods, which include the use of a full-body gyroscope.

As for the Avs right now? What can I say? They stink. They’re an awful hockey club at the moment. And they really fooled me this time. After they beat Chicago and San Jose, I really got on the band-wagon big time and thought they’d go on a real run in the second half. Silly me.

I was sick last night and didn’t see a lot of the game, but suffice to say the defense was terrible again. Funny how a lot of the defensive problems for this team started with the demotion of Tyson Barrie to Lake Erie and the promotion of Greg “minus-12 and counting” Zanon. Not to just single him out, though. The entire defense has been brutal. Everyone.

I’ve covered the other “big-four” sports and situations like this would be very difficult, if not impossible. Hockey players make it easy.

“If we knew what the problem was we would have fixed it by now,” Johnson said about a defense that has allowed 15 goals in its last three home games and 20 overall in its last four (Avs outscored 20-9 last four). “Sometimes this is just how it goes. Best thing you can do is show up at the rink and just work hard. It’s a tough bind we’re in but we need to stick together and make the best of it.”

Hejda points to the 4-0 loss to the visiting Edmonton Oilers on March 12, which began a four-game losing streak, to when the Avs began to unfold.

“Everything starts with that loss to Edmonton. We lost confidence. Everybody is trying (not) to make a mistake.” He added: “D-zone coverage, we have no rhythm right now … Four games in a row we’ve allowed four, five, six goals against. Not acceptable. I don’t know. We have to simplify it, probably.”

Hejda got the second “assist” on Chicago’s first goal, making a fine “pass” to superstar Patrick Kane. With possession in the left corner beside Semyon Varlamov, Hejda was trying to make a reverse, a chip against the end boards as he and his partner skate separate directions, but the problem was, partner Shane O’Brien was in the opposite corner, looking for a direct D-to-D pass behind the net.

That left Blackhawks forward Jimmy Hayes by himself atop the crease, and Patrick Kane accepted Hejda’s “pass” and fed the puck Hayes. The young forward from Boston College might never be so open in front of the net the rest of his NHL career.

Johnson was minus-2, making an ill-advised offensive pinch from the blue line to help Chicago establish a 2-on-1 rush that led to Andrew Shaw’s goal and a 2-0 deficit, and he bowled Jonathan Toews into Varlamov to give Kane an open net for Chicago’s third goal.

O’Brien was minus-3, Greg Zanon minus-2, Ryan O’Byrne even and Matt Hunwick plus-1. Part of their problem has to be puck possession, including in the offensive end. The Avs only generated 19 shots, so the forwards also struggled with creating a sustained attack. It was a mess.

Captain Gabe Landeskog was asked if he thinks coach Joe Sacco and his staff could be in jeopardy of losing their jobs.

“I have no clue. That’s not up to me to speculate,” Landeskog said. “We know as players it’s not up to any coaching staff (to take the blame for) what we’re doing out there. It’s the players that are doing the job, and we have to do a lot better.”

On a positive note, the Avs are on the road to getting a high percentage on the No. 1 draft pick in June, and bringing projected all-world defenseman Seth Jones back to Colorado. Seth, Popeye’s kid, grew up playing for the Littleton Hawks and Colorado Thunderbirds until age 12, when he moved back to Dallas, where he was born.

Finally, congratulations to Milan Hejduk, who scored his 375th NHL goal after being scratched against Minnesota on Saturday. Hejduk is now tied with Butch Goring and Trevor Lindin for 104th on the all-time goals list.

"We wanted to get a little bit of redemption and know that we can beat a team like this," said Chicago forward Patrick Kane. "It's kind of nice to beat them like that."

I know a lot of fans remain really upset that Tyson Barrie was sent down to Lake Erie, and that guys like O’Byrne and Zanon and Matt Hunwick have been playing over him. I must admit I was shocked by his demotion too. He was the only guy giving some offense from the back end.
My buddy Jibblescribbits also did a story that showed just how valuable Barrie has been to the team, from a Sabremetric standpoint.

Right now, the Avs aren’t even using a defenseman on the first power-play unit, just five forwards. To me, this team needs an element of offense from the back end in a bad way. So, yeah, I agree that the Barrie decision maybe wasn’t all that smart.

Let’s not forget, though, that Zanon has done one of the things he was brought here to do – block shots. He is tied for third in the NHL in that category, with 70. I don’t think Zanon has been as bad as many others seem to think. Has he been great? No, but…

The top three lines for tonight:
Landeskog-Stastny-Hejduk
McGinn-Duchene-Parenteau
Mitchell-O’Reilly-Jones

The fourth line is still being decided by Sacco.
See you tonight, but before I go, some video of the boys warming up this morning:

Avs coach Joe Sacco, who is from Medford, Mass., and also played for Parker at BU, might also have interest in one of college hockey’s best jobs. But Sacco didn’t have much to say about the BU opening after practice today, before the team flew to Minnesota for Thursday’s game against the Wild in St. Paul.

“I can’t speak for David Quinn, No. 1. He’s got a job to do, obviously, and I have a job to do,” Sacco said. “And my focus is solely on our club right now and getting our team to win hockey games. That’s the bottom line. That situation is totally separate. I’m not involved in that right now and I don’t think (Quinn) is either.”

Another candidate for the BU job came to me today: George Gwozdecky. The longtime University of Denver coach, 59, is close friends with Parker, soon to be 68, and Gwoz is still without the contract extension he has sought for the last four or five years. Gwoz’s current 12-year deal expires after next season, following DU’s first year in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

Gwoz and Michigan’s Red Berenson are the only coaches to produce 20 wins in each of the last 11 seasons, and Gwoz is one win shy of becoming the only coach to reach 20 wins in the last 12. If nothing else, the BU opening could expedite a new deal in Denver. (For those of you who have asked, Gwoz’s daughter went to BU last year. She transferred to DU.)

The Avalanche will celebrate the history of hockey and some of the NHL’s well-known trophies at the game. Fans will have the opportunity to take pictures with the Stanley Cup, as well as the Hart Memorial Trophy (league MVP), Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP), Vezina Trophy (best goaltender) and Art Ross Trophy (scoring leader). To accommodate fans and give them a longer time frame to take pictures, Pepsi Center doors will open at 4 p.m. and the trophy lines will be closed at the beginning of the third period. Tickets for the game are on sale now at TicketHorse.com or by calling (303) 53-HORSE (46773). Tickets can also be purchased at the Pepsi Center box office.

Sacco and/or his two assistants might have interest in the BU job, considered one of the best gigs in NCAA hockey. Sacco and David Quinn, a former BU associate head coach under Parker, were born in New England and played under Parker at BU, and Tim Army is also from New England and played and coached at Providence College. (Army is a Yankees fan, so I doubt BU people are going to put up with that.)

Quinn, 46, might be BU’s top choice to succeed Parker, particularly if Parker has anything to do with it. Quinn is in his fourth year with the Avalanche organization, but first in Colorado. He became the head coach of the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL in 2009, after his five-year stint as Parker’s No. 1 assistant (and right after the Terriers won the 2009 NCAA title behind former Avs Kevin Shattenkirk, Colby Cohen and Brandon Yip, and freshman goalie Kieran Milan, now in the Avs’ system with the Denver Cutthroats of the CHL). Quinn also coached at Nebraska Omaha, Northeastern and the U.S. National Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich.

“I can’t speak for my two assistants,” Sacco said, “but Jack is, obviously, an icon over there at Boston University. He’s been there for a long time. He certainly not only had a strong influence on my coaching career but on my playing career. I was very fortunate to play for him there for three years. He’s a legend in that area and he’ll be sorely missed.”

At that point, Sacco’s press conference was cut off by his PR handler, before I got a chance to ask Sacco, 44, if he might consider the BU job. But you would think Sacco, assuming he likes to recruit, would listen if BU came calling. That job, as most elite-level NCAA head-coaching positions, are very secure, and BU typically gets the first crack at the best kids in the area and has a solid Canadian pipeline.

Sacco is from Medford, Mass., and he and his wife Tammy met while growing up. The couple’s oldest child, Joseph, 16, currently plays hockey at a prep school in Massachusetts, surrounded by family.

But given Quinn’s huge ties with Parker and BU, and now his experience in the AHL and NHL, you would think he’d be the Terriers’ top candidate.

The event is hosted by Matt Baca, and one of the comedians is Chris Voth, who used to work in the NHRA media department and was the main communications guy at the Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway. I probably shouldn’t mention that, because if Chris knows I’m coming this year he’ll probably rip on me from the stage. But all in good fun, and charity, so that’s good. The other comedians will be Troy Walker, Nancy Norton and Vic Alejandro.

Word is the only seats remaining are upper mezzanine $10. For tickets, go to dawgnationhockey.org or comedyworks.com/comedians/683

Just when the driver was going to fire up the Zamboni tonight to scrape the ice for a shootout, Matt Duchene made him put the keys back in his pocket.
Obviously it was a great finish to the Avs’ game tonight, a real exciting one for the fans on hand. Not so great for reporters on a tight deadline who have to rewrite quickly. But hey, as I’ve often said, the course I can say I got the most out of in high school was a typing course. I think I’m about a 90-word a minute guy thanks to that touch-typing course of Mr. Moses at Mascoma Vally Regional High School in New Hampshire many moons ago. Do the words always read great? No, but I can dish that slop out in a hurry anyway, which is half the battle in the newspaper game.

First off, I want to give a shout out to the great call by Mike Haynes on Altitude tonight. His talent really shone through on the call, staying right on the play when some might have already had an eye toward the buzzer and the shootout.
Here it is again, and also a stick tap to Peter McNab for saying the goal would count before the replays confirmed it:

There is also a great call from radio man Marc Moser of Duchene’s winner. Click here and fast forward a bit to hear the call.

A few other observations from tonight:
- It was a really well-played game. I mean, there were a couple mistakes here and there (it’s too bad Matt Hunwick turned the puck over in the end, leading to Logan Couture’s tying goal with 3:25 left, because I actually thought he did some good things out there), but both teams really battled.
I gotta give the Sharks some credit – I kind of thought they might pack it in after getting down 2-0 in the second period, playing on the road on back-to-back days, but they didn’t quit at all and nearly snuck out the win in regulation.

Joe Thornton? The guy is still a beast. Does he ever make a bad pass or bad decision with the puck in the offensive end?

- Ryan O’Reilly was outstanding again. No, he didn’t have his usual kind of night on faceoffs, but he scored a goal and made a great mid-air save of the puck with his stick to keep it in the zone on the Avs’ first goal, on the PP for Duchene.
I think the Avs have to start finding a way to give him a little more ice time still. He played a little over 17 minutes tonight in an OT game. He needs a few more. But I know he just came back and is being worked in a bit by the coaching staff. Time to work him in even more though.

- Duchene? Just a great game, again. He’s the fastest guy on the ice in every game now. He’s blowing by everyone. And, most important, he’s playing within himself. No more dipsy-doodling and toe drags and east-west hockey. It’s mostly just good, strong north-south hockey with a LOT of speed and skill.

- I thought Ryan Wilson was good in his return game.

- I think Shane O’Brien was good too, and has been since coming out of the doghouse. Yeah, he’s a bit slow, but for the most part he makes good decisions with the puck.

- David Jones? I mean, I can see the effort out there. But the puck isn’t going in the net. Three goals now in 22 games for him. He’s got to pick it up on the stat sheet for sure.

- Semyon Varlamov? Outstanding. Can’t blame him on the tying goal either. It was a great shot by Couture.

- The PK? I know it went 5-5, but I still think it’s been too shaky, and was tonight. Varly bailed out a few mistakes, including the Avs’ continued inability to clear a puck too often.

No Avs practice tomorrow. See you Tuesday against the Oil.

A brief entry here: Ryan Wilson will take the pregame skate for the Avs and is expected to play. The Avs will skate seven defensemen in the warmup and coach Joe Sacco will decide which player among the seven will get a seat in the press box for the game with the Sharks.

One player who will not take the warmup: Tyson Barrie. The kid will be a healthy scratch again. I know a lot of you have second-guessed the decision to sit Barrie the last couple games, including tonight, and I understand. The coach simply believes Barrie’s play suffered too much of a dropoff in Detroit and Chicago, and that warranted a benching.

Wilson, by the way, basically said he won’t be at 100 percent if he plays. He told the team’s website this morning that he still feels some pain occasionally when skating, but that he can tolerate it.

Milan Hejduk remains on injured reserve with a torso injury from that Lambeau Leap hit by Derek MacKenzie, the one the league didn’t feel warranted any penalty whatsoever.

My son, who is 9, is a huge Avalanche fan now. And he gets really mad at me when I make a snarky comment about the team, which I occasionally have done. “No, you stink if you say they stink,” Tommy Dater told me today.

Well, I’m not saying the Avalanche stunk tonight. Not after crushing the greatest team that ever laced up a pair of skates, the Chicago Blackhawks to end their kinda-sorta unbeaten streak.

I said this on Twitter a few nights ago and meant it then and mean it now: the Avs are going to be a very good team soon. I can see this happening now. Very few teams in the league will be able to match the Avs’ 1-3 strength down the middle with Matt Duchene, Paul Stastny and Ryan O’Reilly.

I talked with Stastny, who was terrific tonight, after the game. One of the first things he said was how O’Reilly’s return has really changed the complexion of this team. The luxury of being able to roll three lines with such quality centers is something that opponents are going to have a very hard time matching.
(And let me start with the first of many unsolicited opinions for the Avs regarding O’Reilly: you will be absolute fools if you get spiteful and trade him a year from now. Will the history of Pierre Lacroix and his ego get in the way of the Avs keeping a player who held out on them, just like it did with guys like Chris Drury and Sandis Ozolinsh and many others? We won’t find out until Feb. 28, 2014, but if the Avs do continue their spiteful history with regard to O’Reilly, let me just go on record right now and say they will be the biggest fools ever if they do).

O’Reilly’s stat line tonight: one goal, one assist, NINE (9) shots on goal, 69% on faceoffs. You didn’t need that guy, right Avalanche management? Not worth the money. What would your record be right now if you hadn’t let your egos get in the way and just signed the kid to a two-year deal at probably well below $10 million like you could have?
If the Avs trade this guy because of petty spite, everybody in management should be fired and you, Avalanche fan, should NEVER go to another game again. Period, end of story. I will be writing that very thing a year from now if they trade him.

But let’s save our best praise of the night for my son’s favorite player – Matt Duchene. One goal, three assists, four shots, two hits, 62% on faceoffs. He was the best player in the game. If the Avs don’t do something really stupid out of petty spite, they will have a dynamic trio of Duchene, O’Reilly and Gabe Landeskog for years and years to come.

The Avs were the better team against the Blackhawks for both games in the home-and-home series. They’re faster than Chicago. Are they better overall? Not now, not yet. Still too many problems defensively. They still don’t quite have that inner belief in themselves. You only get that by winning on a consistent basis. The Avs’ record still remains 9-10-4. I would bet the record would be something like 12-7-4 if management had done their job and found a way to get one of their best players on the ice instead of trying to save Stan Kroenke a few bucks.

But, as they say, it’s time to move forward and the Avs will be a very good team the rest of the way with the roster they have. Of course, injuries could strike at any time. They often do with this team. But for now, let the good times roll. My kid approves that message.

Some postgame video:

Matt Duchene:

A couple other reads on tonight’s game, starting with my own for SI.com.

- Good writeup from Ryan Boulding for Hockey on the Rocks.

- A story from the Chicago perspective.

Oh, before I go: what were the refs looking at when Johnny Oduya chipped the puck into the stands tonight in his own zone – with absolutely nobody deflecting it and no Avalanche player near him whatsoever?
The refereeing continues to be, uh, just a little bit off since the NHL returned.

“You know my game. It’s not flashy. I want to be hard to play against,” O’Byrne told me after Wednesday’s difficult loss, in which the Blackhawks scored in the final minute of the third period. “Give the puck to the forwards, block shots, kill penalties. Whatever the coaches need from me I do, whether I’m playing 11 minutes or 21 minutes. We just got to start winning some games here.”

Here’s a look at average minutes by the eight Avs D-men this year:

21:07 Erik Johnson
21:06 Tyson Barrie
20:59 Matt Hunwick
19:54 Jan Hejda
19:27 Ryan O’Byrne
19:17 Ryan Wilson
18:24 Greg Zanon
16:56 Stefan Elliott
16:16 Shane O’Brien

Avs didn’t practice today, so no updates on Johnson and Wilson. If one or both return against Chicago on Friday in Denver, Elliott will get sent down.

How the bleep does Derek McKenzie not only not get suspended for the following hit on Hejduk that happened in Sunday’s game with the Blue Jackets, but not even a two-minute penalty?

Done seeing that video of the hit? Uh, McKenzie did a Lambeau Leap into Hejduk. He got more air than Michael Jordan on that hit. How the bleep does MacKenzie not get a penalty on that?????????????? Did MacKenzie fail to jump literally out of Nationwide Arena, is that why he didn’t get a penalty?

Honestly, what a joke this is. By all accounts, Derek MacKenzie is a nice guy, with a reputation as a tough but honest player. That’s great, but this is one of the biggest no-brainer penalties I’ve EVER seen in my years covering hockey, and yet MacKenzie got nothing. Nothing from referees Paul (March 26, 1997, no game-misconduct for Darren McCarty for an obvious instigator on Claude Lemieux) and Tim Peel, and nothing from the NHL department of player safety, headed up by former Red Wing Shanahan.

Why do I bring up the fact that Shanahan was a former Red Wing, and part of the most vicious rivalry in recent NHL history, the celebrated Avs-Wings “Blood Feud” rivalry? Well, normally I never would. But I gotta tell ya, the Avalanche front office and many, many of its fans are convinced the NHL gives them unfavorable treatment, just because not many around the league don’t like the Avalanche. Normally I’d laugh off any conspiracy theory like that, but doing nothing about ridiculously obvious penalties like MacKenzie’s doesn’t stop the conspiracy theorists at all, and only makes me perk my ears up a little more that maybe, just maybe, there is something to it.

I always said that Peter Forsberg was the victim of an absolute joke of a double standard as a player. He took more cheap shots than any player of the recent age, yet very, very few of them were ever penalized by major penalties and/or suspensions. Joe Sakic – JOE FREAKIN’ SAKIC – was once SUSPENDED for a PLAYOFF game by former NHL discipline czar Brian Burke for a completely innocent collision with Detroit’s Kris Draper in 1998. Sakic was trying to GET OUT OF THE WAY of Draper when they collided at center ice, and Sakic gets a one-game suspension for Game 1 of the first round against Edmonton. The Avs lost that one game and lost the series in seven games. That remains the worst disciplinary decision I’ve ever seen in my years covering this game. Call me an Avs homer all you want, I don’t care. It was and remains a joke.

We’ve seen Gabe Landeskog get crushed with a hit this year that resulted in no suspension, but I actually thought it was a good hockey hit. Tough, yes, maybe Stuart left his feet too much, yes, but Landy had his head down at the blue line and that’s what happens when you do.

But here is Milan Hejudk, a clean, gentlemanly player, a true credit to the sport, getting crushed by a Lambeau Leap from a stiff player on the worst team in the league and there’s no call. Hejduk tonight will miss his second straight game because of that hit. He’s out with a torso injury. He left the ice after the hit, but toughed it out to play the rest of that game Sunday. But he was playing hurt, and then the injury worsened. Now, the Avs are without a former Rocket Richard Trophy winner, a key part of their team still, while Derek MacKenzie gets to go on his merry way and play for Columbus.

The NHL department of player safety apparently thinks nothing of this whole thing.

Nice work, Paul Devorski, Tim Peel and Brendan Shanahan. You’re not at all feeding the conspiracy theorists that the league has it in for the Avs.

Right winger Milan Hejduk will miss his second straight game with a torso injury, but his replacement Tuesday at Detroit, Aaron Palushaj, was strong. He delivered five hits and did a good job creating space for linemates John Mitchell and Ryan O’Reilly. You can’t really use Palushaj on the power play, which Hejduk is utilized, but he’s fine on that line.

On the back end, Greg Zanon back in, replacing Stefan Elliott, who struggled against the Red Wings. Zanon missed his first game of the season as a healthy scratch. Not sure if enforcer Patrick Bordeleau is going to play, after also being a first-time healthy scratch Tuesday. He’ll probably participate in warmups and allow Sacco and chance to see what ‘Hawks coach Joel Quenneville is going with.

Just caught up with former DU forward Dustin Jackson, who is working with the Blackhawks’ marketing department. Jackson was co-captain with the Pioneers last season. Good man.

Avs return to Denver after the game and prepare for Friday’s meeting against Chicago at the Pepsi Center. For those of you who think the Avs could split or get at least point out of this series (and I’m one of them), consider:

– Chicago has earned a point in 23 straight games, a franchise record and NHL all-time record for point streaks to begin a season.

– Blackhawks have won 10 straight, franchise record.

– Chicago has a league-high 20 wins and 43 points and is the only NHL team without a loss in regulation.

– Blackhawks’ PK is 71-of-80 (89.8 percent) and first in GAA (1.78).

– Offense? They are third in the NHL with 72 goals and fourth with 3.13 GPG.

– And finally, they’re popular and respected. Tonight will be their 202nd consecutive sellout at United Center.

“We had some really good two periods of hockey, hemmed them in pretty good. (Jimmy) Howard was on his head tonight. Unbelievable stops,” Avs captain Gabe Landeskog said.

“Played a strong game against a pretty good hockey team. We didn’t get rewarded. We didn’t come out on top, bottom line.” — P.A. Parenteau.

Center Ryan O’Reilly played better in his second NHL game this season. He played 18:10 (about 4 minutes more than Sunday), registered three shots and was minus-1 (helpless on Johan Franzen’s breakaway goal).

“Felt much better, close to back to where I was,” O’Reilly told me afterward while riding a stationary bike. “My game starts in my own end and I felt like I had space when I had puck, and I was stripping guys. That’s where my game starts, so it was good for me. I feel like I’m getting right back. Unfortunately I couldn’t put the puck in the net.”

Avs coach Joe Sacco said of O’Reilly: “I thought it was a step in the right direction, no question. I think he has more to give, and he will.”

O’Reilly wanted to clarify something I wrote from Columbus the other day. I asked him if he had addressed the team since his return, and he said the PR staff had advised him to just meet with “guys on an individual basis.” After tonight’s game he said that plan was his own idea, and he is not being advised by the PR folks about that issue. No worries.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere (31 saves) played pretty well. The game-winning goal came on a shot that didn’t hit the net. Jiggy was playing the rebound off the end boards as Dan Cleary was crashing the net.

“Trying to get to my post as fast as I could, and the boards being what they are here, it’s unfortunate to lose a game that way, but the boards are there for both teams,” Jiggy said. “All of us are well aware of it. That’s the way it went.”

Young defenseman Tyson Barrie (three shots, three hits, plus-1) played a team-high 22:31 and looked like he belonged. Young defenseman Stefan Elliott did not. He was minus-2 in 17:51 (two shots, two hits) and is likely packing his bags for Cleveland as I hit “publish.”

I suspect Erik Johnson will play Wednesday and maybe Ryan Wilson will rejoin the lineup Friday, and the Avs will carry eight D with Barrie continuing to play a top-four role. Off to Chicago.

Keep tabs with Mike Chambers on Twitter: @MChambersDP