A good fighter knows that when you’ve got someone on the ropes, you’ve got to finish them off.

The rest of the NHL didn’t do that when the Avalanche looked down and out early in the season. They may regret that.

With their win over the Los Angeles Kings, the Avalanche moved to 9-8 on the season, thanks to a 9-4 run since starting the season with four straight losses. They’ve managed to turn their season around despite sub-par goaltending and missing a large chunk of their forward group.

On Friday, some of the cavalry will return, and that can’t be good news for the rest of the Western Conference.

Jonathan Drouin, who hasn’t played since opening night, was activated from injured reserve on Thursday, as was depth forward Miles Wood. In addition to those two, the Avalanche will get their unicorn back in Valeri Nichushkin, as he’s expected to be reinstated by the league after a six-month suspension.

“It’s obviously exciting to hear that with the guys we’re going to get back,” Mikko Rantanen said after scoring a hat trick on Wednesday. “The three guys that go out probably deserve to play.”

Two of those players going out of the lineup are likely Nikita Prishchepov and T.J. Tynan, who were sent to the AHL late on Wednesday. The third player leaving the lineup will be revealed on Friday morning, but for the first time all season, Jared Bednar will have to make a difficult decision about his lineup.

He probably doesn’t mind that.

“I like the way all of our call-up guys are playing,” Bednar said. “They all have different strengths and weaknesses.”

The ability to see some young players play at the NHL level has been one of the biggest benefits of all the injuries, and some of them have taken the ball and run with it, but there’s very little doubt that this will be a better team with some of the players the team will be able to re-insert into the lineup.

“We’re all excited to add guys back in the lineup, especially the caliber of players that are coming back in,” Bednar said. “We’re going to add some offensive firepower in, so everyone’s got to stay committed, continue to play the way we’ve been playing. We’ll just add some more skill into the lineup.”

And that’s what should terrify the rest of the league.

Colorado just held the Pacific Division leading Los Angeles Kings to five shots on goal over the final 42 minutes of play on Wednesday. As of November 14, they’re the third-best puck possession team in the league. Add in two top six forwards and one of your fastest skaters, and it should only get better from here.

Casey Mittelstadt could go from centering two rookies on Wednesday to centering two players who combined for nearly 50 goals last season on Friday. That’s a noticeable difference, and while he had a terrific start to the year, it’s been clear he could use the help at 5-on-5 of late. The return of Drouin and Nichushkin should push everyone down into roles they’re far better suited for.

The rest of the NHL had the Avalanche down on the mat, but they failed to execute the finishing blow. Now we’ll find out if Nathan MacKinnon and company will really make them pay.

What I’m hearing

— Jared Bednar was asked earlier this week if Ivan Ivan and Nikolai Kovalenko have done enough to stick around when everyone returns.

“Yeah. I like the way both of those guys are playing,” he said.

Their roles will be diminished, but both have shown they can contribute in the bottom six at the NHL level. One thing working against them is that they haven’t killed penalties at this level, but it’s something both have excelled at in other leagues. Maybe that’s something the staff will work with them on, because power play time will be tough to come by soon. Chris Wagner was placed on waivers Thursday to create some roster flexibility moving forward.

— Rantanen went from a one goal in 11 game stretch to now scoring eight goals in his last five games. What changed?

“You go through a cold stretch, feel like nothing’s bouncing your way,” he said. “And then you go these stretches where sometimes you don’t even feel like you played that well, and still, you get in the right spots and puck’s going in.”

It helps to shoot, too. During his cold stretch, he had a few games where he registered zero shots on goal. In the last five games, he hasn’t had a game where he’s finished with less than three shots on net.

What I’m seeing

— They had the Utah/Carolina game on the TV at Ball Arena on Wednesday and I couldn’t help but notice there were a lot of empty seats in Salt Lake City. It was like watching a Coyotes game. Utah has been slumping after a nice start, but the NHL can’t already be losing momentum in a new city, can they?

Maybe word is out in that city that the arena just isn’t a great viewing experience for the fans. The reality is that there are a lot of seats in that building where you just can’t see all the rink. I’m not sure I’d want to pay for that either.

— I just don’t see how the Avalanche keeps Nichushkin off that top power play unit once he shakes off a little bit of the rust. He was a menace in front of the net last season with 16 power play goals, and he added four in just eight playoff games.

Everyone knows the top unit runs through MacKinnon, Makar, and Rantanen, but you put a guy that big in front of the net and it might be unstoppable.

What I’m thinking

— This has got to be the third or fourth year in a row where the Los Angeles Kings just feel like frauds. They have good players, they play within their structure, but they have no clear game breakers and that’s what kills them every single year.

They sit atop the a below average Pacific Division for now, but I don’t expect them to be threats when the playoffs roll around. They’re the very definition of “blah” when it comes to NHL teams.

— I’m not sure the Wild will keep up this pace the entire season, but if they make the playoffs, Kirill Kaprizov has a real shot at the Hart Trophy. He’s an incredible hockey player, and if I had had a vote a few years back, he would have been one of my finalists when he put up 108 points and turned Ryan Hartman into a 34-goal scorer.

He currently has 12 more points than the next closest Wild player. That roster isn’t that impressive, so if they sneak in, he’s got a real case.