When a line on the Avalanche needs a boost, Jared Bednar has the solution.

Throw some Landy on it.

Which is remarkable given everything Gabriel Landeskog has gone through over the past four years.

Through five playoff games, Landeskog is producing at a point-per-game pace, with Game 1 against the Los Angeles Kings being the only one when he didn’t register a point. It was not uncommon for Bednar to move Landeskog around the lineup during the regular season, but he’s been even more willing to do it this postseason.

In five games, Landeskog has been a regular on three lines. The majority of his ice time in the first round came with Nazem Kadri and Nicolas Roy, a trio that scored important goals against the Kings. When the top line needs a change, Bednar will insert Landeskog onto the line in place of Artturi Lehkonen, often when they need a left-handed shot that can win a face-off.

That coaching decision has led to two important goals for the Avalanche. Landeskog’s game-tying goal late in Game 2 against the Kings helped them come from behind to win in overtime, and his clutch face-off win in Sunday’s Game 1 win over the Wild led to Cale Makar’s go-ahead goal in the third period.

But that top line isn’t where Landeskog spent most of Game 1. Instead, he moved to the second line with Brock Nelson and Valeri Nichushkin, a trio that spent a lot of time together during the regular season. Nelson and Nichushkin did their part defensively against the Kings but struggled to create much offensively, as neither registered a 5-on-5 point in that series.

With Landeskog on their wing in Game 1, they looked exponentially more dangerous.

In their 8 minutes together at 5-on-5, they out-attempted the Wild 14-4 and carried an expected goals-for percentage of 61.68%. Nelson looked like he had more jump, and it was easily Valeri Nichushkin’s best game of the postseason. Was it just the Landeskog bump? That’s difficult to say, but given how every line he jumps on seems to improve, it can’t be dismissed.

“(He’s) one of the top players in the league, and the way he plays is, it’s a very pronounced identity, I guess you’d say,” Bednar said of his captain. “What he provides to one line, he provides the exact same thing to the next line. And there’s a heaviness and a stoutness to his game that he’s able to, like, win puck battles, hang on to pucks in traffic, still make plays with great vision and the ability to create chances for himself and his line mates. If we need something on a line, and I can move him around a little bit to help some lines, then I’ll do it on occasion.

“He has a lot of tools in his toolbox.”

A fixer can be seen as someone who is assigned or contracted to solve problems for others. When a line is struggling or needs a boost, that’s what Landeskog was in 2022 and still is today. Landeskog’s knee issues have slowed him down a little bit, but it didn’t impact his hockey IQ. That trait is exactly why he’s still been able to be a very effective player this season.

Bednar’s fixer was announced as a finalist for the Masterton Trophy on Monday. He might be biased, but he knows to whom the award should go.

“I think he’s going to win it. I think he should win it,” Bednar said. “There’s not many guys in the history of the NHL that have been able to go through something like that for that length of time, and that much of a rigorous rehab, and wears on you mentally, physically, and to be able to come through the other side and still be the player that he is, and the way we’re talking about him, and how he’s helping all of our lines and and be the leader he is. It’s not easy to do.”

Practice notes

• Bednar did not seem concerned about the status of Cale Makar, who missed most of the first period Sunday after taking a heavy hit. “I am,” Bednar said when asked if he expected Makar to be ready for Game 2.
• Joel Kiviranta on Monday did not skate again while Josh Manson got in a lot of work with the Avalanche assistants. Both are still considered day-to-day.
• The Avalanche are currently talking with goaltending prospect Ilya Nabokov’s representatives on whether he’ll join them or the Eagles for the rest of the playoffs, a team rep said on Monday. Nabokov’s KHL season ended last weekend and the original plan when he signed his entry-level contract last summer was for him to come to North America at the conclusion of his KHL season. Because his team played into the conference finals, the plans may be altered. Nabokov is expected to start his North American career next season regardless, but any time with the coaching staff this season could help with that transition.