TAMPA, Fla. — Citing a difficult schedule that features seven games in 11 days, Avalanche coach Patrick Roy cancelled practice Wednesday. The decision was surprising, given the team’s awful special teams play in Tuesday’s 4-1 loss against the Florida Panthers at Sunrise, Fla.

Instead of an off-day practice Wednesday, the Avs (2-5-1) will have a mandatory morning skate Thursday when they’ll play at the Tampa Bay Lightning that evening. It will be their first full-team morning skate of the season.

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“There’s two ways to see things: A coach that might panic and say, ‘We’re skating today. We have to go on the ice. We have to do things,’ ” Roy said from Amalie Arena, where most his players had off-ice workouts and meetings while five skated. “But for me, I thought we played hard yesterday. We didn’t do well in our power play. We didn’t do well in our penalty killing. I’m aware of that. But I feel that it’s better off today to have a light gym (workout) off the ice, get away from the ice and get our minds fresh for tomorrow and have a strong game.”

Roy said the morning skate will last 20-30 minutes plus individual shooting. Colorado was 0-of-5 on the power play and allowed a shorthanded goal against Florida. The Panthers were 3-of-3 with the man-advantage.

Roy and his staff carefully dissected the game’s video.

“We had presence at the net. We drove the net. Pucks didn’t bounce our way. It was in our skates, beside us,” Roy said. “Defensively, we only gave up seven scoring chances 5-on-5. Obviously, last night the problem was not the 5-on-5. It was the power play and penalty killing. We didn’t get the clutch goals. But if we continue to play like this 5-on-5, I’m confident that good things will happen to our team.”

After Thursday’s game against the Eastern Conference defending champions, the Avs visit Carolina on Friday to conclude a consecutive-night stretch. Colorado hosts San Jose on Sunday to begin a two-game homestand before playing eight of nine games on the road.

“We know that when we compare where we’re at from last year, we’re way ahead,” Avs captain Gabe Landeskog said. “We’re just missing some confidence right now.”

Mike Chambers: mchambers @denverpost.com or @mikechambers

COLORADO AT TAMPA BAY 5:30 p.m. Thursday, ALT; 950 AM

Spotlight on Matt Carle:

The former University of Denver standout is Tampa Bay’s highest-paid defenseman ($5.5 million) but doesn’t always see eye to eye with coach Jon Cooper. Carle, 31, is being used on the second or third pairing and is fourth among Tampa Bay defensemen in average ice time (18:09). Because of the Lightning’s salary-cap issues, the long-term contracts for Jason Garrison and Anton Stralman and Victor Hedman’s future extension, Carle is likely to be traded during this season. The 2006 Hobey Baker Award winner has a no-trade clause, so he will go only to the city of his liking. Carle’s brother, David, is an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at DU.

NOTEBOOK

Avalanche:

Coach Patrick Roy will go with new combinations for his top three lines. Center Nathan MacKinnon, will play between Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla, and Matt Duchene has been moved to MacKinnon’s former spot, between Gabe Landeskog and Jack Skille. The third line will be wingers Dennis Everberg and Blake Comeau with center Carl Soderberg. The fourth line and defensive pairings remain unchanged; Brad Stuart and Brandon Gormley will be scratched. Semyon Varlamov will start in goal.

Lightning:

Tampa Bay, a 1-0 loser at Chicago, has not scored a goal in its past two games. “It’s been a little tough sledding to find a goal, but it’s not like we are playing poorly,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos told the The Tampa Tribune. “We are getting decent chances.” The Bolts are 15th in NHL scoring (2.7 goals per game). … Center Brian Boyle is day to day with an upper-body injury.





Mike Chambers, The Denver Post