Morning Flurries: Nathan MacKinnon is back and the NHL changes course

Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty ImagesWith the week about at it’s close, Colorado Avalanche hockey rapidly approaches its resumption. With a game on the schedule for Sunday against the Vegas Golden Knights, today’s good news on the roster front is proving timely. That good news is the return of Nathan MacKinnon, Pierre-Eduoard Bellemare and Devon Toews to the ice for practice on Thursday.

The return of these three will give coach Jared Bednar the ability to return to close to standard forward lines and defense pairings for Sunday’s return to action. The returns leave Pavel Francouz (lower body), Matt Calvert (upper body) and Erik Johnson (upper body) sidelined with injury and Gabriel…