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Duchene in lineup; Stastny (back) out |
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Rick Sadowski
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Center Matt Duchene took the warmup and will play against the Blues tonight.
However, center Paul Stastny is experiencing back spasms and won't play.
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This is from the morning skate:
Duchene, who has missed three games because of an oblique injury, took part in the morning skate and called his playing status a game-time decision.
"I'm going to prepare like I am (playing) and we'll see what happens," said Duchene, who leads the Avalanche in scoring with 12 goals and 20 points in 19 games.
The Avalanche has won all three games without Duchene, who was injured Nov. 16 in a game against Florida. He took part in non-contact drills Monday and skated in regular drills Tuesday.
"It's been torture," he said. "I feel like I've been out a month. I can't believe it's only been nine or 10 days. It feels like it's been a lot longer. I got better really quick and I thought I was going to be able to play on our (recent two-game) road trip and it was a whole different story. Four days went by and it stayed about the same and the last few days I've taken a good step and started to feel better. I'm really pleased with the way I am now."
Roy said as recently as Tuesday that he didn't expect Duchene to be available until Friday in Minnesota at the earliest.
"Even though I'm going to be playing potentially tonight or on the weekend, I still think we're going to take things really slow in terms of off-ice stuff and make sure we're not skipping any steps and getting ahead of ourselves," Duchene said. "We're going to take care of this thing until it's gone.
"I have a little bit of pain left, but if I can perform at 100 percent of capacity and if I feel normal when I'm skating out there ... for a couple days there I felt like I was inside someone else's body. Now I feel good again. If I'm in tonight, hopefully I'll stay healthy and help the team win."
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The Avalanche is in third place in the Central Division with a 17-5-0 record and trails the second-place Blues by three points. The Blues have won four games in a row and own a 17-3-3 record.
The Blues defeated the Avalanche 7-3 in a penalty-filled game at the Scottrade Center on Nov. 14, but Roy and his players have been saying they're more interested in playing a solid game and using their speed than they are concerned about any kind of payback.
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This was the headline in today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Payback for 'Slaughter at Scotttrade'?
I spoke with Blues right wing Chris Stewart this morning and this is what he had to say about the rematch:
"I definitely don't think we saw their 'A' game last time we played them. I think they're going to come out hungry and play with a chip on their shoulder. They're a team that plays well at home and we have to limit the turnovers and play our game. It's a division game so there's going to be a lot of emotion. It's going to be a high-energy game and we're going to have to match their intensity."
Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk will return to the lineup after sitting out Monday against Minnesota because of flu-like symptoms.
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Semyon Varlamov will be in goal for the Avalanche, while Jaroslav Halak will start for the Blues.
The Avalanche has won eight consecutive home games against the Blues since April 12, 2009, a 1-0 St. Louis victory.
“I still haven't seen us play well in this building,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “This is a perfect time for us to play a good game. We're going to be forced to, because they're going to play a good game. That's why I'm looking forward to seeing how we respond in this building.”