The relatively harmless “bag” skate to complete Avalanche practice Thursday might have had something to do with Wednesday’s result against the visiting Arizona Coyotes, but what Colorado focused on previously in the practice was undoubtedly put in place to prevent another poor offensive showing Friday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Avs, who produced just 13 shots in two periods en route to losing to Arizona 3-1 to begin a six-game homestand, spent much of Thursday focusing on their neutral-zone puck play and setting up in the offensive zone. Against the Coyotes, they continually turned the puck over in the neutral zone and didn’t consistently play in the opponent’s end until the third period.

The Avs hope to change that with a better start Friday against the Leafs, who play Thursday night in Arizona. Related Articles Avalanche’s Cale Makar wins Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year

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“We have to have a good start against anyone but tomorrow’s going to be real important because we’ve struggled putting 60 full minutes together lately, and after looking at last night’s tape, we got real competitive, real hungry, in the third period — had a lot of good chances and just missed out on some puck luck,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “It just kind of shows what we can do when we come out with the right mindset and our details are tight, and there’s a certain level of desire to get the job done and that’s what we need for 60 minutes tomorrow.”

Bednar will stick with the same lineup from Wednesday, when the Avs should have had the advantage over a weaker team that was forced to travel the morning of the game. Because of the mandatory three-day NHL break, the Coyotes couldn’t travel Tuesday, the day after Christmas.

Toronto is the midst of a four-game road trip, although it was split in half with the Christmas break.

“Anytime you’re playing a team that played the night before, it’s a crucial start,” Avs left wing and team captain Gabe Landeskog said. “(Wednesday), I felt like we were ready to go, physically, and our legs were fine — even though we didn’t skate as hard as we would have liked to — but really the puck decisions in the neutral zone makes us look slow and just gives them momentum. Our puck play, we have to clean that up tomorrow.”