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Avalanche center Matt Duchene, wearing an orange no-contact jersey, skated in some drills Monday for the first time since sustaining an oblique injury in a Nov. 16 game against Florida.

But coach Patrick Roy said Duchene isn't likely to play in a game until Friday in Minnesota at the earliest, meaning he would miss Wednesday's rematch with St. Louis at the Pepsi Center.

"I'd be very surprised if he plays against the Blues," Roy said. "I certainly want to see him in contact before he plays a game. He's doing well. Today was the first day he was pain free. We'll see (Tuesday) and if he progresses, hopefully he can play against Minnesota."

The Avalanche has gone 3-0-0 since Duchene was injured, defeating Chicago at home and sweeping a two-game road trip against Phoenix and Los Angeles.

Roy said he expects it will be two more weeks before right wing Alex Tanguay (knee) and defenseman Ryan Wilson (back) will be able to play, so they will miss at least six more games.

Tanguay has missed nine games since getting hurt Nov. 2 against Montreal and Wilson has missed eight games since getting hurt Nov. 6 against Nashville. Both players are on injured reserve.

Roy said he doesn't expect Tanguay or Wilson to be available for the Avalanche's three-game trip to western Canada on Dec. 5-8 against Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

"I think that's pretty much what will happen, depending on how it goes," he said. "Things are going well for both of them."

Semyon Varlamov is scheduled to start in goal Wednesday against St. Louis and Saturday against Minnesota in the second game of a home-and-home series with the Wild. Jean-Sebastien Giguere is scheduled to start against the Wild on Friday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

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