Alexander Kerfoot will miss his second game in a row because of a foot injury when the Avalanche play Florida at the Pepsi Center on Thursday, the second and final meeting between the teams this season.
Here are the
GAME NOTES.
Coach
Jared Bednar said after the morning skate that the swelling in Kerfoot's foot is subsiding, but he still hasn't skated since getting hurt Monday in Pittsburgh when he took a shot by
Erik Johnson.
Nail Yakupov skated, but he won't play. Bednar said Yakupov needs a full practice before getting into a game after sitting out all four games of the just-completed road trip because of illness.
Defenseman
Duncan Siemens was reassigned to San Antonio on Wednesday. He played in one game and was scratched on the trip.
The Avalanche will use 11 forwards and seven defensemen again in the opener of a three-game homestand. Colorado will play 12 of the next 15 games at the Pepsi Center, where it lost four of the previous five games.
"This is a stretch where we have to make hay," Bednar said. "We can set ourselves up to be in a good spot and stay in this (playoff) race. We have to take advantage of it."
Captain
Gabriel Landeskog will play on home ice for the first time since Nov. 25 when he cross-checked Calgary's
Matthew Tkachuk and wound up with a four-game suspension.
"We're not looking to play .500 hockey at this point," said Landeskog, who had a goal and an assist on the road trip. "We're looking to do better than that. The last homestand didn't go the way we wanted, so we have another chance to make a stand here.
"It's been a while since I played here. I'm excited to get back, excited to play here. It was good to be with then guys again on the road trip and to play some hockey and feel like you're a part of the team. It sure doesn't feel like you're a part of it when you're sitting out. You want to be in the trenches with the guys."
Goalie
Semyon Varlamov will start. He made 39 saves Saturday in the Avalanche's 7-3 win at Florida.
The lineup:
FORWARDS
Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Tyson Jost -- J.T. Compher -- Colin Wilson
Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Blake Comeau
Sven Andrighetto -- Gabriel Bourque
DEFENSE
Nikita Zadorov -- Erik Johnson
Patrik Nemeth -- Tyson Barrie
Samuel Girard -- Mark Barberio
Anton Lindholm
GOALIES
Semyon Varlamov
Jonathan Bernier
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