David Zalubowski / Associated Press)
DENVER — Erik Johnson, the Avalanche's best defenseman who also is a mainstay on special teams and averages 22 minutes of ice time, suffered a broken fibula against on Dec. 3. That was in the final game of an 0-4-1 homestand that was the beginning of a home-ice winless streak that now has reached nine games.
In the nearly four weeks since, Colorado has been attempting to piece together pairings capable of, among other things, helping out goalies Calvin Pickard and Semyon Varlamov. If there's any silver lining in all of this, it's that defenseman Nikita Zadorov, still only 21, periodically has played well enough to provide additional hope that the 2015 Ryan O'Reilly trade can be something other than a one-sided disaster for the Avalanche.