Semyon Varlamov will be back in goal Thursday when the Avalanche continue their five-game road trip in Florida.
Dennis Everberg will also be in the lineup after being recalled from Lake Erie in the AHL. Ben Street was reassigned to the Monsters after playing Tuesday in Carolina. He missed the previous 21 games because of a hand injury.
Everberg will skate on a line with John Mitchell and Borna Rendulic. Marc-Andre Cliche will be a healthy scratch for the second time this season.
Here are the game notes.
The Avalanche (18-17-9) are four points out of the second wild-card position in the West. The Panthers (20-12-9) are three points behind in the East and coming off a 4-2-0 road trip that ended Tuesday with an 8-2 loss in Winnipeg. They're opening a five-game homestand.
Old friend Roberto Luongo, who was named to the NHL All-Star Game, is expected to start in goal for the Panthers and tie Jacques Plante for 11th place all time for games played (837). He's having a solid season with a 17-8-7 record, 2.32 goals-against average and .924 save percentage.
Varlamov needs one win to tie David Aebischer (89 wins) for fourth place in Quebec/Colorado franchise history. He's 6-3-0 since returning from his third groin injury.
Some numbers: The Avalanche are 2-for-16 on power plays in the past seven games and they've killed 18 of 19 penalties in six games (Alex Ovechkin's winner Monday in Washington the lone blemish) ... Tyson Barrie has no goals and five assists in eight games ... Matt Duchene, who turns 24 Friday, has two goals and four assists in seven games ... Jarome Iginla has two goals and two assists in four games ... Gabriel Landeskog has no goals and two assists in five games ... Ryan O'Reilly has no goals and two assists in seven games.
Here's the Avalanche lineup:
FORWARDS Alex Tanguay - Matt Duchene - Jarome Iginla Gabriel Landeskog - Ryan O'Reilly - Nathan MacKinnon Dennis Everberg - John Mitchell - Borna Rendulic Cody McLeod - Max Talbot - Daniel Briere
DEFENSE Jan Hejda - Erik Johnson Nate Guenin - Tyson Barrie Nick Holden - Brad Stuart
GOALIES Semyon Varlamov Calvin Pickard