Rene Bourque will be in the Avalanche lineup Saturday against Vancouver at the Pepsi Center after missing practice Friday because of illness.
Good thing, since A.J. Greer's reassignment to AHL San Antonio on Thursday would have left them with 11 healthy forwards if Bourque couldn't play.
“I’m fine,… Bourque said after the morning skate. I’ll be good to go. It hit me after (Wednesday's game against Edmonton). Flu, virus, it went through our whole house. The kids got it, then I got it. It was better for me to get rest and hydrated and get some food in me than come to the rink.…
Bourque had two goals in the Avalanche's 6-3 loss to the Oilers, giving him seven overall to tie Matt Duchene for the team lead.
Captain Gabriel Landeskog, who will miss his fifth game with a lower-body injury, didn't skate Saturday after getting on the ice the previous two days. He skated in part of Friday's practice with a non-contact jersey.
“He said he was a little sore today,… coach Jared Bednar said. “He just did some treatment, off-ice stuff. I don’t know if it’s a setback. We’re going to take it just day by day and see how he feels until he’s ready to go.…
Spencer Martin was called up from the Rampage on Friday to dress as Calvin Pickard's backup against the Canucks with Semyon Varlamov out with an upper-body injury.
“We’re hoping we’re going to get healthy in goal here soon and that Varly will be back,… Bednar said. “We’re not expecting that to be a long delay. He’s just going through something upper body, so we’re going to keep him off the ice again today and hopefully get him back into practice in the next couple of days.…
The Canucks didn't have a formal morning skate after playing Friday in Dallas, where they lost 2-1. Jacob Markstrom is expected to start in goal.
The Avalanche lineup:
FORWARDS Mikko Rantanen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Rene Bourque Mikhail Grigorenko -- Carl Soderberg -- Matt Duchene Blake Comeau -- John Mitchell -- Jarome Iginla Cody McLeod -- Joe Colborne -- Andreas Martinsen
DEFENSE Fedor Tyutin -- Erik Johnson Patrick Wiercioch -- Tyson Barrie Nikita Zadorov -- Francois Beauchemin
GOALIES Calvin Pickard Spencer Martin