NEW YORK — A few days after making a trade with the Hurricanes, the Avalanche took a page out of Carolina’s playbook.

Jared Bednar has been known to rely heavily on his top forwards, often overplaying the top line to the point where some nights you wouldn’t know the Avalanche were even dressing 12 forwards. That was not the case in Sunday’s 5-4 win over the New York Rangers.

Colorado’s bench boss spread out the ice time in the key win in the Big Apple. Not a single forward played more than 20 minutes. At the same time, no one played fewer than 10 minutes. That type of ice-time spread had not happened with the Avalanche and is something they’d like to do a lot more down the stretch.

“It’s going to make a big difference. I think we’ll see our guys play better,” Bednar said. “We’ve been leaning heavy on our top guys and we’ll continue to do that at times, but not (an) every game, all game kind of thing.”

It’s rare for Nathan MacKinnon to play fewer than 20 minutes in a game and even rarer for him to do so in a game as close as Sunday’s. Time and time again this season tight games meant the bench would be shortened. That’s not what happened in New York — for a few reasons.

One, Miles Wood returned from injury. The depth forward has been out since late November with a back injury and made his return in New York. He looked rusty, as expected, but he’s someone the coaching staff trusts, so it felt comfortable playing him over 10 minutes.

Two, the Avalanche’s big trade that sent Mikko Rantanen to Carolina Friday brought in additional depth. Martin Necas has stepped in and fit in nicely on the top line, but the addition of Jack Drury has the potential to really help the bottom six this season and in the future. Drury played 15 minutes in his Avalanche debut Saturday and followed up with a goal in a little over 12 minutes Sunday.

Drury’s presence and the return of Wood allowed Bednar to reunite the Joel Kiviranta, Parker Kelly and Logan O’Connor line. Bednar has mentioned multiple times he sees that line as a fourth line, and for at least one game, he was able to use it that way.

None of this would work if the Avalanche didn’t have someone chipping in offensively in the top six with the absence of Valeri Nichushkin. That’s where Juuso Parssinen comes in.

The 23-year-old Finn moved up to the second line over the weekend and made an immediate impact. He picked up an assist on the lone goal scored in Saturday’s loss to the Bruins and scored a goal against the Rangers. His play has been up and down since arriving in Denver, but the team has liked what they’ve seen whenever he’s gotten a bigger opportunity in the lineup.

“He (Parssinen) was good tonight again,” Bednar said after the win over the Rangers. “I think you’re seeing more of his offensive game when he’s playing up in the lineup. I think his game’s getting in order. He seems like he’s been a nice fit with (Casey Mittelstadt) and (Artturi Lehkonen).”

Parssinen’s fellow countryman and new linemate has come away impressed.

“He’s playing better and better,” Lehkonen said. “I know it’s a big transition coming into a new team during the year, but I feel like he’s been playing really, really well, making plays in the offensive zone, so it helps.”

Without Rantanen around, MacKinnon said the Avalanche are going to have a “different look” to their team. Time will tell if it works out for the better.