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Roy shuffles Avs’ lines after blowout loss

Minnesota Wild v Colorado Avalanche - Game Seven

Nathan MacKinnon

Getty Images

After watching his Colorado Avalanche limp through Thursday’s 5-0 loss against the Minnesota Wild, head coach Patrick Roy isn’t just going to maintain the status quo in the hopes that everything will work out in their rematch on Saturday.

Roy has decided to scratch defenseman Nate Guenin, who was minus-one in 14:49 minutes of ice time, in favor of Ryan Wilson. He’s also reversed some of the changes he made in response to the Avalanche’s offensive struggles in the preseason, per the Denver Post.

Specifically, Ryan O’Reilly will shift back to the left wing while Nathan MacKinnon will serve as a center. Jarome Iginla and Matt Duchene will join O’Reilly on the top line and MacKinnon will skate with Alex Tanguay and Gabe Landeskog.

Roy classified thinks these changes will serve as a “wake-up call” as he doesn’t believe the lines’ struggles were chemistry related.

The Avalanche won the Central Division last season, but they still have a lot to prove given how vulnerable they looked from an advanced statistics perspective in 2013-14.

Related:

Can we talk about how bad the Avs were last night?
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