Bednar noted that he expected his remaining blue-liners to elevate their execution. He specifically mentioned puck management, defensive zone exits, and offensive zone pressure to generate scoring opportunities.
"You have to concentrate on what you need to do in the moment, what your team needs to do," Bednar said.
"The guys that are back in the lineup will have to be better than they were the other night.
It's not like they were terrible, it's just that I think all of those guys are capable of giving us a little bit more, especially on the execution side, helping us create a little more offense, managing the puck, executing with the puck to get us out of our zone and through the neutral zone.
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Even in the offensive zone to extend plays. Like I said, they are capable of doing that."
Colorado defensemen Jack Ahcan, Alex Gagne, and Nick Blankenburg were called upon to fill out the bottom pairings.
Defenseman Josh Manson logged 19:02 of ice time during Game 1.
"I don't think when you're playing you can think about it," Manson said. "I think that's just a hindrance.
Going into it, obviously you hope he's playing. I don't think anybody could ever stand up here and say, 'Oh, I hope he's not playing.'
I mean, he's a generational player. So when you're out there, I don't think you want to think about it.
