Tyson Barrie is expected to undergo surgery Thursday for a broken bone in his right hand and will be out 4-6 weeks, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said after the morning skate Wednesday.
Barrie left the game at 5:02 of the first period when he blocked a shot by Arizona defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the Avalanche's 6-2 win Saturday. The teams play again Wednesday at the Pepsi Center.
Here are the GAME NOTES.
Barrie has 27 points (four goals, 23 assists) and is tied for second in scoring among NHL defensemen. He's averaging 21:20 in ice time, second on the Avalanche behind Erik Johnson's 25:33.
"Any time someone goes down other guys have to step up. It'll be no different with Tyson," said Johnson, who will replace Barrie on the top power-play unit. "He's a key part of our offense, he's definitely a big part of our offense. He's our best offensive guy back here, so it's definitely a loss. Other guys will have to fill the void."
The Avalanche are 2-0-1 in the past three games and 5-2-1 since a four-game losing streak.
"There's definitely improvement in our game overall," Johnson said. "I don't like to compare it with last year, but we'd go on a losing streak and it'd be six, seven games before we got out of it. Now we're on a little bit of a run here. Let's keep that going."
The Avalanche are opening a six-game homestand and will play nine of the next 10 at home.
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Coyotes forward Zac Rinaldo has been suspended six games by the NHL Department of Player Safety for punching defenseman Samuel Girard in Saturday's game.
Arizona’s Zac Rinaldo suspended six games for a punch to an unsuspecting opponent, Colorado’s Samuel Girard. https://t.co/YVK1Yu32bD
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) December 28, 2017
Anticipating a suspension, the Coyotes recalled forward Lawson Crouse from Tucson of the AHL on Tuesday. He will replace Rinaldo.
The Coyotes left Phoenix at 8 a.m. MT Wednesday morning and went directly from the airport in Denver to the Pepsi Center for a morning skate. Teams aren't permitted to travel until game day following the three-day Christmas break.
They head back to Arizona after the game and play Toronto at home on Thursday.
"It's mental toughness for me," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. "You can't think of all the built-in excuses, that's the last thing I want this team to do. You can win games on mental toughness, it doesn't always have to be physical. Guys are used to it, you play back-to-backs and stuff."
The Avalanche lineup:
FORWARDS Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen Sven Andrighetto -- J.T. Compher -- Colin Wilson Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Blake Comeau Tyson Jost -- Alexander Kerfoot -- Nail Yakupov
DEFENSE Nikita Zadorov -- Erik Johnson Patrik Nemeth -- Mark Barberio Samuel Girard -- Anton Lindholm
GOALIES Semyon Varlamov Jonathan Bernier