It looks like Calvin Pickard could be back in goal Saturday night when the Avalanche conclude their four-game road trip in Montreal, with fellow rookie Sami Aittokallio dressing as the backup.
Aittokallio, 23, was called up from the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL as the Avalanche wait to learn how serious goalie Reto Berra's neck injury is. Berra was hurt 2:46 into the first period Thursday in Ottawa in a collision with the Senators' Kyle Turris, who was pushed into him by Avalanche center John Mitchell.
Pickard will start against the Canadiens if Berra doesn't improve enough by Saturday morning. Berra lay on his back in the net after being hit and needed help off the ice once he was able to stand. He's listed as day to day with a neck injury.
Coach Patrick Roy told the Denver Post the Avalanche's isn't looking to add another goalie.
"Is it something that could change? Everything is possible (but) I'd be very surprised," Roy said. "The injury to Varly is not serious enough for us to panic, and same thing on Reto. We want to see our young guys. We have to give them a chance."
Pickard, 22, the Avalanche's second-round pick (49th overall) in the 2010 NHL draft, stopped 23 of 27 shots in his first NHL appearance. The Avalanche lost 5-3 and have a 1-3-1 record.
Berra got the start when Semyon Varlamov was placed on injured reserve because of a groin injury. Under NHL rules, Varlamov must remain on IR for a minimum of seven days, so he'll also miss Tuesday's home game against Florida. He would be eligible to play in the following game, Oct. 24 against Vancouver at home.
To make room for Aittokallio on the 23-man roster, the Avalanche assigned rookie right wing Dennis Everberg to Lake Erie, leaving the team with three goalies, 12 forwards and eight defensemen. Marc-Andre Cliche was scratched Thursday to get Mitchell in the lineup, but he'll be back on the fourth line Saturday.
Aittokallio, who was born in Tampere, Finland, was the Avalanche's fourth-round pick (107th overall) in the 2010 NHL draft. He's played in two Avalanche games, the first for 49 minutes April 11, 2013 in Los Angeles when he had to leave because of cramps after stopping 23 of 25 shots. He turned back 15 of 18 shots in 40 minutes Jan. 25 against Tampa Bay last season and took the loss.
Aittokallio was in his third season with Lake Erie and didn't play in the Monsters' first two games this season. He went 15-15-3 in 36 games last year with four shutouts, a 2.65 goals-against average and .909 save percentage.
Everberg, 22, finished Thursday's game on the fourth line after skating on a unit with Gabriel Landeskog and Ryan O'Reilly. A 6-foot-4, 205-pounder, Everberg had no points and a minus-2 plus/minus rating with eight shots on goal in five games while averaging 10:02 in ice time.
Based on how the Avalanche lines were at the end of Thursday's game, this is how they could look Saturday:
Jamie McGinn - Matt Duchene - Jarome Iginla Gabriel Landeskog - Nathan MacKinnon - Ryan O'Reilly Alex Tanguay - John Mitchell - Daniel Briere Cody McLeod - Marc-Andre Cliche - Max Talbot
Not sure about the defense pairings, but Zach Redmond and Ryan Wilson could play considering how sloppy the Avalanche were against the Senators.