The Arizona Coyotes are at the Pepsi Center on Monday, which means Alex Tanguay and the Avalanche's Mikkel Boedker will play against their former teams one week after getting trading for each other.
Also, Semyon Varlamov will be back in goal and defenseman Eric Gelinas will play after missing two games because of a back issue.
Here are the GAME NOTES.
I spoke with Tanguay and Boedker after the morning skates.
Tanguay said it's always a "little bit of a shock" when you get traded, but he wasn't all that surprised when the Avalanche dealt him to Arizona for Boedker and two prospects, Conner Bleackley and Kyle Wood.
Tanguay will be an unrestricted free agent after this season, he had four goals and 18 assists in 52 games, missed 11 games with a knee injury, and he knew the Avalanche had no intention of re-signing him.
"I had a tough start to the season and then I got hurt," he said. "When I came back I didn't play as well as quickly as I would have liked. I was kind of on the outside. It was hard to play at the level I wanted to play. Somewhere along the line I kind of lost confidence."
Tanguay said he didn't ask for a trade, but he has a partial no-move clause in his contract and the Coyotes were one of the 10 teams on his approval list.
"I never asked to be moved, I just wanted an opportunity to play," he said. "(The Avalanche) saw a better opportunity, they wanted to make the move, which was fine. It's their decision, it's their team, and I respect the decision. I'm not bitter, no hard feelings. This is hockey, this is business."
Tanguay, of course, played a pivotal role in 2001 when the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup. He scored two goals against New Jersey in Game 7, for which he'll always be remembered, along with the class he displayed in his first and second stints with the team.
"I have nothing but great memories of playing here, the city and the fans," he said. "The Kroenke family has been nothing but great to me so I'm very thankful for the time that they've given me."
Tanguay didn't play in the Coyotes first game -- a 5-1 loss to Anaheim -- following the trade because, he said, he tweaked his knee halfway through the Stadium Series game against Detroit at Coors Field, though he managed to score a third-period goal that tied the game.
"I kept playing and it was really sore after," he said. "I could hardly walk the next day."
Tanguay made his debut Saturday and collected two goals and an assist when the Coyotes ended a seven-game losing streak with a 5-1 win against Florida.
"It felt good, but that's one game," said Tanguay, who is on a line with Antoine Vermette and Anthony Duclair. "I'm just going to try to have fun, enjoy myself. This is a fun game. I've been fortunate to play this game for a long, long time and I'm hoping it's going to keep going. I think I have the ability to do that. I want to make sure that I bring the fun back. I've always had a smile playing the game and when you don't perform and you don't play as well ...
"I'm hoping things will go well here. Every year this team has been competitive regardless of who's in the lineup, it's been extremely well coached for a long, long time and I'm looking forward to finding my way with this team, hopefully help this team win a few games and see where that leads us. I think I can stay play and it's on me to do that."
Tanguay said the hardest part about the trade was leaving his wife and three children behind. He went home Sunday after the Coyotes arrived in Denver in the afternoon. "My wife is going to have a lot of work to do with the three kids we have at home until the end of the year, but she's a strong woman and she's very capable," he said. "For me, I'm a hockey player and these things are part of what you do. They'll be going to Phoenix quite a bit."
Tanguay said he spoke with some former teammates following the trade but was trying to avoid them at the Pepsi Center until after the game.
"I have great friends on the other side, teammates and stuff like that that I'm trying to stay away from today, but I'm sure we'll have conversations after tonight's game," he said.
"I know I can still contribute in some ways. I think I can be a complement to some teams, some players. I pass the puck and do the little things that help other players to be successful. I'm going to do as much as I can to help this team be successful. Who knows how things are going to play out."
Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said Tanguay adds a skilled veteran that his young players can learn from.
"He adds some skill to our lineup and any time you have a veteran guy like that who's won, it helps your young players," Tippett said. "We have a lot of young players in our lineup and they're like sponges right now.
"Alex has a wealth of experience and he's won, so hopefully some of that can rub off on the kids. He's willing to share that experience. Alex is a very outgoing guy and he wants to share some of those experiences and pass along the good fortune that he's had."
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Boedker, who has a goal and an assist in three games with the Avalanche, had dinner Sunday night with some of his former Arizona teammates.
"I have a lot of good friends over there and hopefully we can come out with the win, that's the main goal," he said. "We need the two points more than they do. We had a lot of battles in practice and now it's going to be for reaI."
Boedker will skate on a line with Nathan MacKinnon and Blake Comeau, who has switched lines with Gabriel Landeskog. Landeskpog has been moved to a unit with Shawn Matthias and Carl Soderberg.
"We feel it's going to bring more depth and take less pressure on a line here and there to generate more offense," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said.
"It's really exciting being in a playoff race," Boedker said. "Every game matters. It's been a lot of fun so far and hopefully it continues. Playoffs is what it's all about. The main focus here is making the playoffs. It's going to be a tight battle to the end against Minnesota. That's what you play for."
The Avalanche, who have lost three of their past four games, are two points behind the Wild for the second wild card playoff position in the West. The Wild will have a game in hand after Monday.
Here's the Avalanche lineup:
FORWARDS Mikhail Grigorenko - Matt Duchene - Jarome Iginla Mikkel Boedker - Nathan MacKinnon - Blake Comeau Shawn Matthias - Carl Soderberg - Gabriel Landeskog Cody McLeod - John Mitchell - Jack Skille
DEFENSE Francois Beauchemin - Erik Johnson Nick Holden - Tyson Barrie Chris Bigras - Eric Gelinas
GOALIES Semyon Varlamov Calvin Pickard