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Setback for Tanguay, out indefinitely |
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Rick Sadowski
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Just when it appeared right wing Alex Tanguay was getting close to returning to the Avalanche lineup, he's had what sounds like a major setback and will remain sidelined indefinitely.
Coach Patrick Roy said this morning that Tanguay, who hurt his knee Nov. 2 against Montreal, "is not doing well." Tanguay, who had been skating in recent days, didn't take part in the pregame skate. The Avalanche plays Phoenix tonight at the Pepsi Center.
"The knee is not the thing that bothers him the most right now, it's the hip," Roy said. "It's been a concern since the start of his injury. We were hoping he had turned the corner, but I guess not. Right now it's not going well."
Roy wouldn't speculate regarding the possibility of surgery. "I'm a coach, not a doctor," he said.
Roy did say that defenseman Ryan Wilson, who hurt his back Nov. 6 against Nashville, is expected to take part in a full practice Wednesday and might be able to play Saturday against Minnesota. Wilson won't travel with the team for Thursday's game in Winnipeg, Roy said, because there might not be a morning skate.
Defenseman Jan Hejda, who hurt his knee Thursday against Edmonton, is expected to skate Wednesday and also might be available Saturday. "But we're not going to jump the gun on that one," Roy said.
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Semyon Varlamov, who went the distance in Thursday's 8-2 loss to the Oilers, will start in goal against Phoenix's Mike Smith, who has an 8-1-3 career record against the Avalanche with one shutout, a 1.85 goals-against average and .940 save percentage.
The Avalanche needed 44 shots and an overtime goal from Ryan O'Reilly to beat Smith and the Coyotes 4-3 on Nov. 21.
"He's so good with his reflexes," Duchene said of Smith, who covers plenty of net with his 6-foot-4, 215-pound frame. "You get a goal on him, you know you did something really right."
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Duchene is one of the Avalanche's top players mired in a slump. He and O'Reilly have no goals and one assist in the past seven games. Paul Stastny has no points in six games and Jamie McGinn has two goals and one assist in the past 20.
Erik Johnson has no goals and two assists in 12 games, while Tyson Barrie and Andre Benoit are both scoreless in the past seven.
"I felt good on the road trip," said Duchene, who previously missed three games with an oblique injury and dealt with a flu bug. "I felt my game is getting back to where it was. I've had some really tough luck around the net, but I'm happy with what I did on the road trip. My overall game, there's a lot of things I'm trying to improve on away from the puck.
"I know offensively it's going to click. I try not to get too down right now on myself in terms of the offense. I just have to keep the faith and know that it'll come if I keep putting the effort forward."
As for a power play that has been fizzling for a while, going 0-for-20 in the past seven games:
"We have no rhythm on it, we're not getting any power plays," Duchene said. "That's the problem. I'd like to say a couple things -- I think everybody here would -- but I'm not going to about that. It's frustrating. I mean, we have a fast team. We're one of the fastest teams in the league and it's crazy that we're not drawing more penalties."
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