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MacKinnon to replace injured Tanguay at right wing |
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Rick Sadowski
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The Avalanche will be without right wing Alex Tanguay "for a minimum of two weeks" because of the knee injury he sustained Saturday against Montreal, coach Patrick Roy said after practice Monday. Team physician Dr. Andrew Parker will re-evaluate Tanguay's condition after the two-week period.
Tanguay has three goals and six assists in 13 games, so it's a significant loss.
Rookie center Nathan MacKinnon will take Tanguay's spot at right wing on the line with left wing Gabriel Landeskog and center Paul Stastny on Wednesday night when the Avalanche plays Nashville at the Pepsi Center. MacKinnon moved there Saturday after Tanguay was injured and scored what proved to be the decisive goal in the Avalanche's 4-1 win against the Canadiens.
"I've played a little right wing," MacKinnon said. "Stats and Landy are both pretty hot right now. It's exciting to get an opportunity to play with those two guys. We had some good time in (the Canadiens) end and we made some good plays. Scoring a goal like that was fun. Hopefully it goes pretty smoothly."
Stastny is disappointed that Tanguay will be out for a while but thankful that a player like MacKinnon is available as a replacement.
"He's a skill player, a smart player, a shooter, a playmaker," Stastny said. "Any time you add another guy like that ... you lose Tanguay, but you add another dimension in MacKinnon, who creates stuff himself. He has a pretty dangerous shot, a heavy shot. Maybe you haven't seen it as much, but he's got a really dangerous shot, so he should be good for us."
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John Mitchell will center the third line with left wing Jamie McGinn, who missed the past three games with a knee injury, and right wing Max Talbot. McGinn practiced Monday for the first time since getting hurt Oct. 25 against Carolina.
Marc-Andre Cliche will center the fourth line with left wing Cody McLeod and right wing Patrick Bordeleau. The Ryan O'Reilly-Matt Duchene-PA Parenteau unit will stay the same.
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The Avalanche on Monday assigned defenseman Tyson Barrie to the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League and recalled defenseman Matt Hunwick.
"Tyson needs to play," Roy said of Barrie, who was a healthy scratch in eight of the past nine games. Roy said defenseman Nick Holden, not Hunwick, would be used as a forward in an emergency. Holden played left wing on the fourth line last Friday in Dallas when McGinn was recovering from his injury and McLeod was completing his five-game suspension.
"He played really well against Dallas at that position and this morning we tried him on the power play and I thought he moved the puck really well," Roy said of Holden. "If we need a forward, it'll be him."
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Roy said Semyon Varlamov will start in goal Wednesday against Nashville and Sunday against Washington. Jean-Sebastien Giguere will start Friday against Calgary.
Defenseman Andre Benoit didn't practice Monday because of what the team said is a minor groin strain, but he's expected to play Wednesday against the Predators.
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