After arriving in 2020, Devon Toews has been “Mr. Everything” on the Colorado Avalanche blue line. For the first half of this season, some of that everything had disappeared in the form of his offensive production.

Fortunately for the Avalanche, that dip appears to have been temporary.

Since returning from the Olympics in Milan, Toews has looked more like the player Avalanche fans have become accustomed to seeing the previous five seasons. He was that again in Colorado’s 3-1 win over the Flames on Thursday. His usual top-notch stick work in the neutral and defensive zones is there, but the offensive production that was missing prior to the Olympic break has returned.

Even if he doesn’t believe he’s doing anything differently.

“I just do my thing,” Toews told The Denver Gazette. “Points never is going to be what I critique my game on. They come (and) they go. I don’t do anything differently. I play my game and sometimes you get points, sometimes you don’t. That’s kind of the way it goes. As long as we’re winning, that’s all I care about.”

His coach, however, has seen a change since the break.

“He’s involved,” Jared Bednar said of Toews. “Since Cale (Makar) has been out especially, (Toews) is involved. On the defensive side, very active, very aggressive, we all know his ability to steal pucks and shut down plays and get you moving in the right direction. Then when you’re up and jumping and joining the play and being part of the attack, that’s the way we know he can play and that’s the way we want him to play all the time. He’s done a real nice job of it recently.”

In the 42 games Toews played prior to the Olympic break, he picked up just 13 points, putting him on pace for far and away his least productive season since joining the Avalanche. In the 22 games since, he has 10 points. It’s not just the production that’s been better. It’s the overall process.

When Toews is on the ice, the Avalanche are controlling 62.47% of the shot attempts since NHL action resumed. His 62.55% expected goals-for percentage is the highest among defensemen on the team. That’s a slight difference from the first portion of the season, where Toews’ on-ice underlying numbers were in the bottom half for all their regular defensemen.

The reset, even if he was still playing over in Italy, seems to have helped. The coaching staff has also gotten a good look at what Toews can do away from the injured Makar, and, so far, there is a lot to like.

Toews has spent the better part of the last month paired with Sam Malinski. In nearly 200 minutes as a pair over that time, they’ve controlled over 65% of the shot attempts and have outscored the opposition 18-8. It’s something new for Toews, who has mostly played with Makar since coming here and did so again at the Olympics, but he’s enjoying it.

“It’s been nice. Sam’s such a good player,” Toews said. “He’s smart, he’s intelligent, he defends hard, and I think he likes the direct approach that I give him and what I tell him to do. I’m a little more vocal than some of our other guys, so I think he reads that well and makes plays off it. He’s playing some really good hockey right now.”

For Malinski, who has spent time with pretty much everyone on the defense this season, it seems to be a fit.

“It’s been really good,” Malinski told The Denver Gazette. “He’s a really special player and a guy who makes things really easy on his partner. He’s been really easy to play with.”

The Avalanche will need this version of Toews if they want to make a run at another Stanley Cup. It’s been a long season, one that has included Toews and his wife welcoming another child to their family and a trip to Italy for the Olympics, but the 32-year-old’s body is holding up fine.

“I feel great,” he said. “It’s an energizing group. When you’re winning hockey games, it keeps you going. We have such a happy room. It’s great to come to the rink every day. We’re really grateful to be able to do this for a living, so we’re just having fun with it.”

Avalanche 3, Flames 1

What happened: Colorado clinched the Presidents’ Trophy with a businesslike effort.

What went right: Martin Necas picked up three more points and is now just two away from the first 100-point season of his career. With first place wrapped up, there’s a chance the Avalanche give him some rest, but they’d still like to see him hit that milestone if at all possible.

What went wrong: The Avalanche were very close to blowing this lead, giving up two goals to the Flames after they pulled their goalie. They got bailed out on the second one, as Calgary was clearly offside about 20 seconds prior to scoring, so that goal was taken off the board after the Avalanche challenged.

Avalanche goal scorers: Landeskog (13), Necas (38), MacKinnon (52)

Flames goal scorers: Gross (1)

Between the pipes: Mackenzie Blackwood was very good, stopping 28 of 29 shots.

What’s next: John Tortorella and Vegas comes to Ball Arena on Saturday for a game at 6 p.m.