Erik Johnson has had a strong start to the 2013-14 campaign and he gave plenty of credit to new coach Patrick Roy. "I feel like this is the best stretch I've had in my career," Johnson said. "A lot of it has to do with Patrick (Roy). You know, I'm a player that can make plays. You go out there and make a mistake and go back to the bench and he's like, 'Don't worry about it. That's a great try. Go out and do it again next shift.' In the past, we played a lot of D-to-D, chip-it-up-the-wall kind of hockey. Now, there's a lot of flow to our game, where we come out of the zone with speed. We're really utilizing our best asset, which is our speed." The Avalanche traded for Johnson with the expectation that they were getting a No. 1 defensemen and it's been difficult for him to fully realize his potential at the NHL level. In 17 games this year, he has picked up seven points, 37 hits, 28 blocks and a plus-10 rating.