Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov is off the hook.
A Denver judge on Friday dismissed an assault charge against him that was connected to an alleged domestic violence incident in October after the District Attorney's office filed a motion to drop it because prosecutors didn't feel they could prove it at a trial.
The Avalanche isn't commenting.
"That's not to say we don't believe our victim," District Attorney spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough told the Denver Post. "Most of the time, additional investigation strengthens our case. This time ... it became clear we didn't have a belief we could prove it beyond a reasonable doubt."
Varlamov was charged in October with felony kidnapping and assault after he allegedly attacked his girlfriend, Evgeniya Vavrinyuk, at their Denver apartment. According to the affidavit and arrest warrant, Vavrinyuk claimed that Varlamov came home drunk and knocked her down by kicking her in the chest. She claimed he stomped on her chest, grabbed her by the hair and dragged her out of the room and told her in Russian that he would have beaten her more if they were in Russia.
The kidnapping charge was dropped in November.
Varlamov, who has been free on a $5,000 bond, has a 16-8-1 record with one shutout, a 2.37 goals-against average and .924 save percentage. He's a leading candidate to be the No. 1 goalie for Russia's Olympic team in February.
Varlamov will start in Los Angeles on Saturday and in San Jose on Monday.
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Avalanche center Paul Stastny was feeling fortunate Friday, with no ill-effects from the cross-check to the face he absorbed from Edmonton's Sam Gagner right after a faceoff in Thursday's game at the Pepsi Center.
"Luckily, I didn't get hurt," Stastny said after practice. "But that's just a lack of respect for the game. Something could have been broken, or I could have gotten a concussion. On purpose or not ... how do you not do that with intent?"
Stastny figures Gagner, of all people, should know better. Gagner's jaw was broken in an exhibition game in September when Vancouver's Zack Kassian hit him with his stick. Kassian was suspended for three preseason games and five regular-season games.
"Your adrenaline kind of gets to you and it doesn't hurt as much until after. I think I was surprised. You can't believe something like that happens. Sometimes you're battling in front of the net and it happens or you're in a scuffle off the draw. But I've never seen anything like that happen."
Referee Mike Leggo's original call was a two-minute cross-checking penalty, but he changed it to a five-minute infraction and also handed Gagner a game misconduct after conferring with referee Greg Kimmerly and the linesmen, Brad Lazarowich and Vaughan Rody. There was the expected uproar from the crowd when the minor penalty was announced while replays were being shown.
Gagner leaned over to check on Stastny, who was on all fours, as play continued during the delayed penalty. Stastny got to his skates and was involved in the play until the puck hit Gagner, stopping play. Kimmerly checked on Stastny, who wiped his mouth as he moved to the bench.
Trailing 1-0, the Avalanche went on a five-minute power play with 1:28 left in the first period. It became a two-man advantage when Oilers forward Taylor Hall was given an unsportsmanlike conduct when the period ended. The Avalanche, which was in a 1-for-37 drought on power plays, tied the game on Tyson Barrie's goal at 1:07 of the second period.
The Avalanche went on to win 4-2, with late second-period goals from Ryan O'Reilly and Max Talbot (shorthanded) before Matt Duchene scored into an empty net with 1.1 seconds left in the third.
I didn't think Gagner's action warranted a suspension and he won't be further penalized.