In appropriate trains Trent Frederick jumped into the second row of the right wing Charlie Coyle And Brad Marchandwhile Morgan Geekie And Justin Brazeau were the healthy scratches.

“I want to see speed. I want to see persistence. I want to see relentlessness,” Montgomery said after the optional morning skate when asked what he expected from Tufte and Jones. “If you want to make an impact and develop into a role, you have to make an impact on the ice. Just being in the right position and not making things happen is not enough.”

Jones, who battled a groin injury in training camp, has not played since the opening loss at Florida. Tufte last played in the home opener, a win over the Canadiens.

Geekie (zero points) and Brazeau (one assist) had played in the first four games.

Tufte's plan was to bring “energy” to the table.

“Get in her D, get behind her and get to work,” he said. “I would say: online presence. Colorado is a good, fast team, so I have to play well defensively and structurally and just make sure I get noticed out there.”

Jones and Tufte, drafted back-to-back first-round picks in 2016, play a similar style.

“The way I look at Jonesy, he’s got speed, he’s always flying around and hitting things, and I think we’ll play well together,” Tufte said. “We want the puck, and Jonesy and I love being in front of it too, so I think that will help us…So as long as we can create traffic in front of the net, I'm going to try and get myself to focus on that.”

Ideally, Tufte and Jones would use their size and strength to create space for Poitras, whose creativity on offense is undeniable, although finding space is sometimes difficult, especially when defenders are struggling with him.

“You see him in the offensive zone, hanging on the pucks and looking for open guys. He has great vision and a high IQ, so just try to be open and get the puck to him too,” Tufte said. “He’s fast and has been playing great so far and I’m really impressed with him.”

Two of the best

Facing the Avalanche means going up against two of the best players in the league as the reigning MVP Nathan MacKinnon and perennial candidate for the Norris Trophy Cale Makar.

Both have elite vision and power. They can accelerate to top speed in a flash and are dangerous on the power play.

Montgomery said just being aware of their presence was the first step in trying to contain the two horrors.

“That’s the most important thing,” said the coach. “If you are aware of this, you should play north. If you are aware of that, you should not turn pucks back into your own zone and try to hold on to pucks in the attacking zone.”

Words of praise

MacKinnon had high praise for Marchand, his friend and fellow Nova Scotian. MacKinnon said Marchand presents “a lot” of challenges when he’s on the ice.

“He’s one of the best players in the league,” MacKinnon said. “He is already on Team Canada (for the four-nation duel). He’s one of the best defensive forwards in the league, so it’s always a big challenge.”

MacKinnon and Makar (Canada) and Charlie McAvoy (United States) are also on the first four-nation roster.

The tournament, in which Sweden and Finland also take part, will be held in February. The first four games of the round-robin format will be played at the Bell Center in Montreal (February 12-15). Two more games and the championship will be played at TD Garden (February 17-20).

Each nation plays three round-robin games using the following points system: 3 points for a regulation win; 2 points for an overtime or shootout win; 1 point for an OT/shootout loss; and zero points for a loss of regulation. The nations with the best record qualify for the championship game.

The opportunity presents itself

The Avalanche, which started 0-3, called up the middle Matt Stienburganother Nova Scotian, makes his NHL debut against the Bruins.

Stienburg has known the Marchand family his entire life and counts Brad as one of his idols. He tried to incorporate parts of Marchand's game into his own.

“He obviously plays with a world-class skill level and some things that you just can't replicate,” said Stienburg, who played three seasons at Cornell. “But I think the work ethic and everything he plays with, practices in the summer and skates with is something I've never seen before and it's been like that for as long as I can remember.” So all these little intangibles. I think he sets the bar pretty high and I’m trying to get as close to that as possible.”

Korpisalo goes first

Joonas Korpisalo then got the call in net for the Bruins Jeremy Swayman had started three times in a row. Korpisalo hadn't played since the opening game…The Avalanche also recalled forwards Ivan Ivan And Nikolai Kovalenko from Colorado (AHL) and skilled ex-Bruin Chris Wagner below … Kovalenko is the son of Andrei Kovalenko. Nicknamed “The Tank,” Andrei finished a nine-year NHL career with the Bruins in 2000-01, scoring 16 goals and 37 points in 76 games…The Bruins are off on Thursday.

Jim McBride can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @globejimmcbride.