Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson didn't practice Monday because of illness. Neither did captain Gabriel Landeskog, who hasn't skated since Friday as he continues to take treatment for a lower-body injury.

Goalie Semyon Varlamov practiced for the second day in a row after recovering from a wrist injury and will dress as Calvin Pickard's backup Tuesday against Nashville at the Pepsi Center.

Coach Jared Bednar said Johnson "probably" has the same illness that prevented Rene Bourque from practicing Friday; Bourque played Saturday in the Avalanche's 3-2 shootout loss to Vancouver.

"(Johnson) took the day off and I don’t want him around the guys if he’s sick,” Bednar said. "It’s been going through our team a little bit, but we’ve contained it and it’s only been a 24-hour thing, so he should be able to go tomorrow.”

Landeskog will miss his sixth consecutive game.

"He’s still considered day to day for me,” Bednar said. “He’s having good days and bad days right now."

Nathan MacKinnon practiced after taking a "maintenance day" Sunday and will play against the Predators. He lost an edge and slid hard into the boards 22 seconds into the second period Saturday. He missed a couple of shifts but returned and had a game-high seven shots on goal, along with one in the shootout.

MacKinnon, who said he's recovered from a sore back and neck, will play Tuesday.

"I was skating as fast as I could and lost an edge, and kind of spun," he said. "If we were playing (Sunday) I think I would have been able to skate. I got some treatment from the trainers and I feel better today."

MacKinnon leads the Avalanche in scoring with 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in 20 games. He didn't have point Saturday after collecting three goals and four assists in the four previous games.

"I feel like my shots are good scoring chances, too," he said. "I had 10 against L.A. (Nov. 15) and I think a lot of them were from the outside. I feel the last few games I've been getting in tighter, getting really good looks. The game's funny; sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't."

The Avalanche (9-10-1) have gone 0-1-1 in the first two games of a five-game homestand and are struggling at home again with a 4-5-1 record.

"It'd be nice to get to .500 tomorrow -- I know it really (wouldn't) be .500, but it is in our minds," he said. "I guess we're happy we got a point, but we obviously wanted to get the win.

"We're getting better, I think it's a process. We're better than we were last year. We're definitely improving."



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