No Valeri Nichushkin, no problem for Gavin Brindley, new-look Avalanche second line

Mackenzie Blackwood has uncovered the key to Gavin Brindley s success Brindley who has evolved from training camp surprise to NHL regular to fill-in second-line forward in a hurry had a goal and an assist Thursday night to help the Colorado Avalanche machine roll on in a - win against the Buffalo Sabres at Ball Arena He s played amazing Blackwood disclosed I m very impressed with him But I guess I shouldn t be surprised He s got a little Thunder Bay in him The -year-old Brindley s father is from Thunder Bay Ontario which also happens to be the hometown of a certain Avalanche goaltender That connection aside this was an vital first step for the new-look second line This was the first competition Valeri Nichushkin missed of what Avs coach Jared Bednar estimated would be a handful at least Nichushkin s lower-body injury is the first for a player in Colorado s top-nine forwards this season While a scant key players have missed time no one at Nichushkin s level has When Bednar declared earlier this week that Brindley s ceiling is as a top-six forward in the NHL he meant in the future Not a insufficient days But Nichushkin s injury forced a lineup shuffle and Brindley slid into his place next to Brock Nelson and Ross Colton on the second line And on a night when Martin Necas had a two-goal four-point performance the second line s contributions were also critical in a sometimes choppy sometimes sloppy win against one of the league s worst teams The Avs are now - - to start the season and the points match a franchise record through games previously set by the Stanley Cup champions You need that secondary scoring and we were fortunate to get it tonight Brindley disclosed I feel like it was a big part of the win Nelson and Colton are both pretty good players I thought it was a lot of fun We were finding our groove there a little bit towards the end I thought it was a good start The Avs scored three times on their first five shots on goal in this contest The third came from Nelson after a perfectly orchestrated re-load and offensive attack with all five players on the ice getting involved Samuel Girard stopped the puck near the red line along the left wall and got it to Colton who pinged it across to Sam Malinski The Avs defenseman passed it ahead to Brindley along the right wall who carried it into the zone and identified Colton cutting toward the net Colton s one-touch pass teed up Nelson for his fourth goal of the season and a - lead After Buffalo clawed back into it with a pair of goals Brindley collected the game-winner at of the second The Sabres were making a line change and Jacob Bryson gave up the puck by softly sending it into the Colorado end Brent Burns grabbed it and expeditiously snapped it to Josh Manson who sent Brindley down the right wing for a rush Brindley carried it into the zone and ripped a shot past Buffalo goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen into the top left corner of the net Related Articles Martin Necas four points lead Avalanche past Sabres for fifth straight win Avalanche sign goaltender Scott Wedgewood to one-year contract extension Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog s first regular-season goal since a big one It is nice to move on Avalanche tops Ducks in battle of Western Conference points leaders Keeler Avalanche Nathan MacKinnon on pace to do something no NHL squad has done in years That might not be a good thing I saw Manson get it I checked over my shoulder and had a lot of space Brindley declared I figured I could just come down and rip it and fortunately it went in Brindley finished with a career-best of ice time He now has four goals and seven points this season including three goals and five points in the past four games He also signed a two-year contract extension Tuesday morning The Avs created more than percent of the expected goals at -on- with Brindley and Nelson on the ice If this is going to be the second line in the short to intermediate term it was a pretty good starting point I liked them at times Avs coach Jared Bednar commented I think a little bit like the rest of our association they missed specific opportunities to play in the o-zone just by protecting a puck winning a battle here and there but overall pretty good on the defensive side of it They were playing against Tage Thompson s line for a little bit and did a nice job You give up something to get something on certain nights with different lines and they sort of freed up MacKinnon s line to do various good things Want more Avalanche news Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis