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Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said Tuesday morning that injured center Matt Duchene might be able to play as early as Saturday in Los Angeles.

Duchene is recovering from an oblique injury he sustained last Saturday in the Avalanche's 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers. Roy said he probably would make the two-game road trip that begins Thursday against Phoenix.

"We'll see," said Roy, who is hopeful that Duchene will be able to skate in Phoenix. "Matt would love to play in L.A., but at the same time we're in November. I'm not going to push him. We have to make sure that we do not push him, make sure that when he comes back he's 100 percent. It's too early in the season to gamble and lose him for a longer period. We're going to be very cautious with him."

Duchene leads the Avalanche in goals (12), points (20), power-play goals (3) and game-winning goals (3).

*****

Here's the Avalanche lineup for Tuesday night's game against Chicago at the Pepsi Center:

FORWARDS
Landeskog -- MacKinnon -- O'Reilly
McGinn -- Stastny -- Parenteau
McLeod -- Mitchell -- Talbot
Malone -- Cliche -- Bordeleau

DEFENSE
Johnson -- Hejda
Benoit -- Guenin
Holden -- Barrie

GOALIES
Semyon Varlamov
Jean-Sebastien Giguere

Matt Hunwick and Cory Sarich will be scratched. Sarich will be back Thursday against Phoenix. Roy said Sarich is healthy and just wants to give him a rest.

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