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Hip flexor injury to sideline MacKinnon

September 19, 2013, 6:36 PM ET [32 Comments]
Rick Sadowski
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Colorado Avalanche said Friday that first-round draft pick Nathan MacKinnon has a hip flexor injury, but that the problem isn't considered serious.

MacKinnon, who played in Wednesday's preseason game against the Anaheim Ducks, wasn't scheduled to play Friday night against the Los Angeles Kings at the Pepsi Center. He won't play Sunday in Anaheim, but he could be available for Tuesday's home game against the Dallas Stars.

The Avalanche isn't about to take any chances with its prized center, who was the first player selected in the 2013 NHL draft.

MacKinnon didn't look to be in any discomfort during or after Wednesday's game and said he was pleased with how things went, other than with the 2-1 loss.

"Pretty solid," he said. "I thought I was pretty physically involved in the 'D' zone as well as the offensive zone. There are some things I have to adjust for sure and improve, but I thought I played pretty solid."

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Ryan O'Reilly will make his preseason debut Friday and play left wing on a line with center Matt Duchene and right wing Steve Downie.

O'Reilly said he's "excited" about moving from center to left wing, a position he said he got to play for Team Canada in the World Championship tournament last year after the Avalanche season ended.

O'Reilly and Duchene have been linemates since scrimmages start last week, and the duo has been impressive. P.A. Parenteau was skating on the line until Tuesday, when Avalanche coach Patrick Roy decided to try Steve Downie there and moved Parenteau to a unit with left wing Jamie McGinn and rookie center Nathan MacKinnon.

"I think it'll be good for us," O'Reilly said after practice Thursday. "Having Downs there, any line he plays on he's definitely a big presence. He's full of energy and he makes stuff happen. He creates room and he also moves the puck well. I think we'll have good chemistry out there."

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Goalies Sami Aittokallio and Calvin Pickard will split time in goal for the Avalanche against the Kings. They spent last season with the Lake Erie Monsters in the American Hockey League.

Aittokallio, 21, is from Tampere, Finland. He was a fourth-round pick (107th overall) in the 2010 NHL draft. He went 14-12-1 with one shutout and 3.00 goals-against average in 27 games.

Pickard, 21, was born in Moncton, New Brunswick. He was a second-round pick (49th) in 2010. Pickard posted a 20-19-5 record with five shutouts and a 2.47 average.

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The plan is for goalie Semyon Varlamov to play his second full game Sunday in Anaheim and get one more start in one of the three remaining preseason games after that. Varlamov stopped 22 of 24 shots Wednesday in the Avalanche's 2-1 loss to the Ducks.

"He's been working really hard and we really want to make sure that he'll be ready for our first game (Oct. 2 against the Ducks)," Roy said. "We will give him three (preseason games) just to make sure he's really feeling good out there. We're going to need a great start (to the season) from him, no doubt about it."

Varlamov and Jean-Sebastien Giguere practiced with the second group Thursday and spent an additional 40 minutes on the ice working with goalie coach Francois Allaire.

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Roy continues to be impressed with defenseman Chris Bigras, who will play his second game Friday. Bigras, 18, was the Avalanche's second-round pick (32nd overall) in June and is making a strong bid for what appears to be one open spot on defense. It's likely the Avalanche will carry one extra defenseman and two extra forwards on the 23-man roster for opening night.

Bigras, who was paired with Erik Johnson, logged 22:22 in ice time against the Ducks. He had two shots on goal, one hit, one giveaway and one takeaway.

"There's nothing I didn't like," Roy said. "Even when he was in trouble, he found a way to get back. He's pretty amazing. I mean, I'm overwhelmed by him right now. I won't say he's a nice surprise, but he's playing better than what we thought. We knew we had something special in our hands, but he is -- no doubt in my mind -- someone that we're going to build around for the future of this organization."

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So what does Roy think of the massive new high definition videoboard that hangs above the Pepsi Center ice?

"I didn't want to look at it because I was afraid there could be something wrong on me. Just kidding," he said. "It's amazing, it's simply amazing. The times that I was looking up between whistles, the fans seemed to enjoy it. I think it's going to bring something different to the game, a new dimension to the game."

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The Avalanche reduced its preseason roster to 42 players Thursday. Left wing Michael Schumacher was assigned to Lake Erie in the AHL and the following three players were reassigned to their respective junior teams: left wing Troy Bourke (Prince George, Western Hockey League), defenseman Mason Geertsen (Vancouver, WHL) and goalie Spencer Martin (Mississauga, Ontario Hockey League).

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These are expected to be the line combinations, defense pairings and goalies for Friday's game:

Ryan O'Reilly-Matt Duchene-Steve Downie
Gabriel Landeskog-Paul Stastny-Paul Carey
Patrick Bordeleau-John Mitchell-Mark Olver
Brad Malone-Mitchell Heard-J.T. Wyman

Tyson Barrie-Andre Benoit
Chris Bigras-Erik Johnson
Karl Stollery-Nate Guenin

Sami Aittokallio
Calvin Pickard

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You can also check out my story on Erik Johnson http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=683181&navid=nhl:topheadson NHL.com.
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