Call it a package deal: The Avalanche have so many injured forwards that they found it necessary to call up an entire line from the Lake Erie Monsters for tonight's game against Carolina at the Pepsi Center.

"That's what we were all laughing about, all three of us going at once," said Ben Street, who will center the third line with fellow Monsters left wing Andrew Agozzino and right wing Tomas Vincour. "I don't know if that's happened many times before."

Street figures the trio has a bit of an advantage in that all three players are familiar with each other, though he and Vincour have only played a handful of games after recovering from injuries they sustained in the preseason.

Street broke his hand blocking a shot against Montreal and Vincour hurt his knee in the Avalanche's preseason opener against Anaheim.

"We're excited," Street said this morning. "It's nice that we have familiar linemates. Sometimes when you come up you're thrown into a position that you're not used to, with guys you're not used to, and it can take a little bit to get used to. Hopefully we can skip that stage and maybe get going right off the bat."

The Avalanche's already lengthy injury list grew to nine players Friday when center John Mitchell hurt his leg in practice, leaving the team with nine healthy forwards. Dennis Everberg (separated shoulder) and Alex Tanguay (facial fracture) were injured Thursday in the Avalanche's 3-2 loss to Washington. Tanguay, who leads the team with seven goals, might be available as early as Tuesday when the Avalanche plays in Arizona.

"Our top two lines are still there except for Tanguay," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "Like I said to them, let's not look for excuses here. We have to be ready for (the Hurricanes). They've been playing better hockey lately."

Maybe the Agozzino-Street-Vincour can give the Avalanche a spark, though it's be nice if Jarome Iginla (no goals in 12 games), Gabriel Landeskog (no goals in 10 games) and Ryan O'Reilly (no goals in eight games) would start living up to their big contracts.

"We'd like to see them bringing some energy," Roy said of the recent call-ups. "I'm sure these guys are excited to be here and it's a great opportunity for them. They played together in Lake Erie and (coach) Dean Chynoweth was very happy with them. We'll see how their first shifts go and if they're performing well we'll give them as much ice time as possible."

Agozzino, 23, will make his NHL debut. He was in his third season in Lake Erie and had three goals and five assists in 14 games this year.

Street, 27, was signed as a free agent in July. He spent most of last season with Abbotsford in the AHL, where he had 28 goals and 32 assists in 58 games. He has two assists in 19 career NHL games with Calgary. He had one goal and one assist in four games with Lake Erie this year after recovering from his hand injury.

Vincour, 24, was acquired from Dallas on April 2, 2013 in exchange for Cameron Gaunce. He had six goals and five assists with Kazan in the Kontinental Hockey League last season. Vincour, who has seven goals and nine assists in 88 NHL games -- two games with the Avalanche and 86 with the Stars -- had one goal and one assist in three games with Lake Erie after recovering from his knee injury.

"We've been together for about a week and a half," Street said of his linemates. "Vincour and I skated together for about six weeks when we were rehabbing our knee injuries, so we've been skating together for a while and we played the last three games together."

Street and Vincour flew to Denver together, and Street later received a text message from Agozzino, who got the call after Mitchell was injured, asking for a ride to the hotel.

"With the injuries that have gone on here and stuff, we're just hoping to try to help the team get wins," Street said. "Things haven't gone as well as they'd like it to."

The Avalanche have won nine consecutive home games against the Hurricanes. The franchise hasn't won in Denver since a 3-2 win Feb. 9, 1996 at McNichols Sports Arena when it was still known as the Hartford Whalers.

Here's the Avalanche lineup:
FORWARDS
Ryan O'Reilly - Matt Duchene - Daniel Briere
Gabriel Landeskog - Nathan MacKinnon - Jarome Iginla
Andrew Agozzino - Ben Street - Tomas Vincour
Cody McLeod - Marc-Andre Cliche - Max Talbot

DEFENSEMEN
Jan Hejda - Erik Johnson
Nate Guenin - Tyson Barrie
Nick Holden - Zach Redmond


Reto Berra
Calvin Pickard


*****

Former Avalanche defenseman John-Michael Liles will play his first game at the Pepsi Center since the Avalanche traded him to Toronto on June 24, 2011 in exchange for a second-round draft pick (Mitchell Heard) in 2012.

"I'm excited," said Liles, who was traded to the Hurricanes on New Year's Day 2014 as the Leafs were getting ready to play in the Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium. Liles, who went to Michigan State, didn't mind leaving Toronto.

He had nine goals and 29 assists in 105 games with the Leafs in parts of three seasons, but coach Randy Carlyle had little use for him last year; Liles cleared waivers and was sent to the Toronto Marlies in the AHL for 16 games; he played just six games with the Leafs.

Liles, 33, has three assists in 12 games this season and will be paired with Tim Gleason tonight.

"This was a place that's pretty close to my heart," Liles said of Colorado. "My wife and I make our home here in the summer, so it's nice to be back. I haven't been in this (visiting locker) room before, so it's a little bit of a different view."

Liles, who spent seven seasons with the Avalanche, ranks 15th in franchise history with 275 points (68 goals, 207 assists) in 523 games. He has 325 career points in 674 NHL games with 79 goals and 246 assists.



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