Defenseman
Erik Johnson won't be in the lineup Monday night when the Avalanche face Edmonton at the Pepsi Center to close out a two-game homestand, but right wing
Dennis Everberg will play.
Here are the
game notes.
Johnson, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Jan. 26, took part in the morning skate again, but coach
Patrick Roy said the plan is to have him participate in a full team practice for the first time Tuesday before making a decision on his status going forward.
Asked if it's possible Johnson could be "shut down" for the remaining six games after Monday, Roy said it would be "hard for me to answer" right now.
"We need to see what the doctor thinks, and there are a lot of things before shutting him down," Roy said. "But we'll start by having him practice fully (Tuesday) and we'll make decisions from there."
The Avalanche originally said that Johnson was expected to miss between three and eight weeks after his surgery; he's been out nine weeks.
Everberg didn't play in the third period Saturday against Buffalo after getting checked in the head late in the second period. He went through the mandated concussion protocol and said he's fine.
"It was more precaution (missing the third period) with all the concussion problems there are," Everberg said. "I got a shot to the head, it was a good hit. I exposed myself and I have to learn from that. It was a 50-50 battle and I reached for the puck, a bad play by me."
Center
Jesse Winchester hasn't played since sustaining a concussion in a preseason game, though he has been skating for several weeks.
The Avalanche (35-28-12) would close to within six points of Winnipeg for the second wild card spot with a win against the Oilers (22-40-13), who defeated Colorado 4-3 in Edmonton last week and are coming off a 4-0 win against Dallas.
*****
Center
Ryan O'Reilly was named the NHL's third star of the week after collecting a goal and seven assists in four games. He has four goals and eight assists in a seven-game scoring streak, with four goals and 19 assists in the past 20 games.
O'Reilly won the Lady Byng Trophy last season when he had 28 goals, 36 assists and two penalty minutes in 80 games. This season, after a slow start, he has 14 goals, a career- and team-high 38 assists and 12 penalty minutes in 75 games.
O'Reilly has been centering a line with left wing
Gabriel Landeskog and right wing
Alex Tanguay, and the three have combined for 16 goals and 26 assists in the past 12 games.
"It's easy to produce playing with those guys because they make so much happen," O'Reilly said. "Unfortunately, we're not in a playoff spot, but to have these high-intensity games with a lot of pressure on them, they're exciting games. As a kid you dream of playing in big games and stepping up and making stuff happen.
"If we win every game we have a chance to get in. Our mindset is, get the next two points and see where we are and keep doing that and not worry about winning them all. That's the mentality we have to maintain."
Former Colorado College goalie
Richard Bachman will start for the Oilers. He made 29 saves Friday in the 4-0 win against Dallas, the team that drafted him in the fourth round (120th overall) in 2006. It will be his first career appearance against the Avalanche.
Here's the Avalanche lineup:
FORWARDS
Gabriel Landeskog - Ryan O'Reilly - Alex Tanguay
John Mitchell - Matt Duchene - Jarome Iginla
Cody McLeod - Marc-Andre Cliche - Dennis Everberg
Jordan Caron - Joey Hishon - Freddie Hamilton
DEFENSEMEN
Jan Hejda - Zach Redmond
Nate Guenin - Tyson Barrie
Nick Holden - Brad Stuart
GOALIES
Semyon Varlamov
Reto Berra
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