Well, here we go, 24 games remaining on the NHL schedule for the Avalanche, which resumes post-Olympics play Wednesday night against Los Angeles at the Pepsi Center.
"It's great," coach Patrick Roy said after the morning skate. "First of all, I was very happy with our practices. The first couple days we were a little rusty, but the last three days I thought we practiced at another level. I thought our passing was better and our execution was there. I was very pleased with what I saw.
"This is a good test for us. L.A. is a good team. Like us, they had some players who were a part of the Olympics. Everything is the same for everybody and it'll be a challenge for everyone. This is a team we're going to have to be ready for."
The Avalanche is in good shape as far as the playoffs go with a 37-16-5 record and 79 points, good for third place in the Central Division. The Avalanche has a 10-point lead over fourth-place Minnesota and is just five points behind first-place St. Louis and second-place Chicago.
While the Avalanche went into the Olympics break on a 11-4-1 run, the Kings went 2-8-1 in their final 11 games in which they scored a total of 15 goals. But the Kings boast a 2.07 goals-against average as a team with Jonathan Quick and Martin Jones in net.
The game will be a battle of the backups, with Jean-Sebastien Giguere starting for the Avalanche while Jones is expected to start for the Kings. Colorado's Semyon Varlamov and Los Angeles' Quick are getting the night off after competing in the Olympics, with Quick expected to start Thursday in Calgary.
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Avalanche center Paul Stastny skated for the first time Wednesday morning since arriving from Russia, where he played for the U.S. Olympic team.
"It's disappointing the way it ended," Stastny said. "I guess maybe my legs are a little tired coming back to the altitude after being at sea level the whole time, but we've been playing this whole time so getting a couple days off was good."
The U.S. lost to Canada 1-0 in the semifinals and 5-0 to Finland in the bronze-medal game after winning the first four games.
"(Canada) was probably the better team, but we went chance for chance with them and it could have gone either way," Stastny said. "Against Finland, if Patrick Kane scores on those (two) penalty shots, it's a different game.
"It was still fun. As you get older, in a couple years you look back and you'll enjoy it. But it's frustrating. You get past the quarterfinal game and you're guaranteed the medal round. Three out of four teams get a medal, and you don't get one, that's the most frustrating part. You battle hard for two weeks and you come home with nothing."
Despite the disappointment, Stastny said he won't have a problem getting into the thick of things in the NHL.
"The fact that we're in a good spot and we're going to make a push, that's always good to come back to," he said. "We have good expectations about finishing of the season well. We have a good group of guys and we're ready to go to work."
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Avalanche left wing Max Talbot's fiancee is expecting their first child any day, so it's possible he won't play against the Kings. If it happens Wednesday, Cody McLeod would move up to his spot on the third line and Cory Sarich would dress as a seventh defenseman.
Defenseman Erik Johnson is serving the first game of a two-game suspension for his slash against the New York Islanders' Frans Nielsen in a Feb. 8 game.
Had a quick chat with Alex Tanguay, who underwent surgery on his left hip last Friday. He's frustrated -- doesn't help needing crutches to get around. But he half expected the operation would be necessary and is looking forward to being a cheerleader the rest of the season and to playing next year.
Here's the Avalanche lineup:
FORWARDS Ryan O'Reilly -- Matt Duchene -- PA Parenteau Gabriel Landeskog -- Paul Stastny -- Nathan MacKinnon Max Talbot -- John Mitchell -- Jamie McGinn Cody McLeod -- Marc-Andre Cliche -- Patrick Bordeleau
DEFENSE Jan Hejda -- Nick Holden Andre Benoit -- Nate Guenin Ryan Wilson -- Tyson Barrie
GOALIES Jean-Sebastien Giguere Semyon Varlamov