Matt Duchene will return to the Avalanche lineup Friday against Washington at the Pepsi Center hoping he can help keep the team's slim playoff chances alive.
The Avalanche are five points behind Minnesota for the second wild card playoff position in the Western Conference with five games remaining, one more than the Wild, who are home against Detroit on Friday.
"Everyone's got to be pulling their weight right now and it doesn't matter whether I was hurt or not," said Duchene, who sustained a knee injury March 16 against Vancouver and will wear a brace. "I want to make a difference, I want to help the team win and play my role the best that I can."
Duchene, who leads the Avalanche in goals (29) and points (56) will skate on a line with Mikkel Boedker and Mikhail Grigorenko.
"I expect to be a little rusty tonight at times, but hopefully it comes back quick," Duchene said. "It'll probably be a little bit of an adjustment process getting into the game a little bit, but hopefully our line gets on the board early. I was really happy with where things were at when I got hurt, but I wasn't off for too long to the point where I don't think I can find it quick again.
"We don't want to take these games for granted and not be ready and look back and go, 'If we had only won those we'd be in (the playoffs).' Every game has meant a lot and this one is no different."
Coach Patrick Roy said he's "proud" that the Avalanche "haven't given up" on making the playoffs, but they've lost three of their past four games without Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon, who remains out with a knee injury and has yet to skate since getting hurt March 18 in Calgary.
"It would have been easy for our guys to say, 'Oh, Duchy and Mack are not there, it's going to be impossible for us,' " Roy said. "Am I happy with the way we've (always) played the game? No, but overall I'm proud of the fact that we're not looking for excuses. Keep playing hard and play some good hockey ... this is what we need to do in order for a chance to make the playoffs."
The Capitals have clinched the Presidents' Trophy for the NHL's best record with 54 wins and 114 points, but coach Barry Trotz doesn't believe in sitting out players unless they're injured, saying he wants the team to be playing at a high level entering the playoffs. He has been cutting down on players' minutes.
Trotz said Nicklas Backstrom, who leads the Capitals in scoring with 67 points, won't play after getting "banged up" in Wednesday's game against Philadelphia.
Here's the Avalanche lineup (with Duchene back, Jack Skille will be scratched):
FORWARDS Mikkel Boedker - Matt Duchene - Mikhail Grigorenko Gabriel Landeskog - Carl Soderberg - Blake Comeau Shawn Matthias - John Mitchell - Jarome Iginla Cody McLeod - Andrew Agozzino - Andreas Martinsen
DEFENSE Chris Bigras - Erik Johnson Nick Holden - Tyson Barrie Nikita Zadorov - Francois Beauchemin
GOALIES Semyon Varlamov Calvin Pickard