It looks like the Avalanche caught a break regarding forward Sven Andrighetto, who slid hard into the boards in the third period of their 6-1 win against the New York Islanders on Sunday.
Coach Jared Bednar said Monday that Andrighetto is "probable" for Tuesday's game against the Central Division-leading Winnipeg Jets at the Pepsi Center.
With J.T. Compher (upper-body injury) ruled out of the final three games of the homestand this week, the Avalanche can ill afford to lose another forward.
"We will see," Bednar said of Andrighetto's status. "He will test it (Tuesday) to see if he is ready to go."
Andrighetto had an assist on defenseman Patrik Nemeth's first-period goal Sunday, giving him 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in 37 games this season.
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The Avalanche played one of their best all-around games against the Islanders, launching a season-high 48 shots, getting points from 11 players and 27 saves from goalie Jonathan Bernier.
They also killed all three Islanders power plays to extend their penalty-killing streak to 33 in the past 11 games.
With a 19-16-3 record and 41 points, the Avalanche are three wins and seven points shy of matching last season's dismal totals; they have three more games before reaching the halfway point in the season.
"There's progress for sure," Bednar said. "The things that our guys are saying on the bench, their leadership, guys chiming in with their puck decisions and talk on the bench and talk on the ice. These are positive signs that we're trying to do the right things and play the right way all the time."
Rather than collapsing after losing the first four games in December -- that would have happened last year -- the Avalanche closed out December by going 7-3-1 in the final 11 games with notable wins against Pittsburgh (twice), Toronto and the Islanders.
"I think training camp was real good and we set the bar pretty high, and that's kind of translated into this season," captain Gabriel Landeskog said. "We know there's a lot of work to do still, but the first three months have been fun. I still think we have another couple of gears.
"We want to make sure that we take care of these games on this homestand and make sure that we get something going here. We can't keep winning one and losing one. You got to be consistent, and that's what we're trying to do."
Landeskog scored two power-play goals and had an assist, and Nathan MacKinnon remained hot with three assists to move into fifth among NHL scorers with 46 points (16 goals, 30 assists) in 38 games.
The Matt Nieto-Carl Soderberg-Blake Comeau line combined for two goals, two assists and 10 shots. The defense corps, without Tyson Barrie (hand) for 4-6 weeks, combined for two goals, three assists, 10 hits and 16 blocked shots.
Bednar singled out two 19-year-old rookies -- defenseman Samuel Girard and center Tyson Jost, saying they played their best games of the season.
Girard had two shots and two assists in 19:23 of ice time, and he looked quite comfortable on the power play. Jost had six shots, also looked good on the power play and won six of 10 faceoffs while logging 16:32.
"They were both really good, especially the way Girard was skating," Bednar said. "He and Jost were hanging onto pucks in the offensive zone."