Avalanche center John Mitchell took part in a full practice session Friday, after which coach Patrick Roy said he would play in Saturday's matinee against San Jose at the Pepsi Center.
The Avalanche can clinch a playoff berth with one point against the Sharks, or if Dallas loses to St. Louis, or if Phoenix loses to Minnesota.
Mitchell missed four games after crashing back-first into the boards in Montreal in a March 18 game against the Canadiens. He fell while trying to get the puck from Lars Eller. He managed to leave the ice with help and was sent to the hospital for precautionary X-rays.
"A significant amount of pain is gone," Mitchell said. "My whole back was just bruised right down the middle. It was tough just getting in and out of bed, in and out of a car. Any little pressure on my spine, on my back, was pretty sore. It's good that I can roll in and out of bed, get in and out of my car and not have any pain."
Mitchell is thankful that he wasn't more seriously injured.
"You're kind of defenseless at that point when you're flying into the boards backwards," he said. "You have no chance to try and turn around and brace yourself, so it's scary when you're going into the boards that fast and you know there's only one outcome -- you're going to smash into the boards. It was frightening and I don't wish that on anybody."
Mitchell slid into the boards while in a seated position and could have sustained a lot more damage.
"If I was going more head-first, heaven forbid," he said. "I guess I was thankful that I was able to be going in kind of seated rather than in any other way."
Mitchell, who has nine goals and 17 assists in 68 games, will skate on the third line with Cody McLeod and Max Talbot, allowing center Marc-Andre Cliche to return to the fourth line.
"I felt good in practice (Thursday) and I felt good (Friday)," Mitchell said. "It's a very touchy-feely sort of injury with your back when you're bruised on the bone and stuff. It's real finicky."
Defenseman Erik Johnson and right wing Jamie McGinn didn't practice Friday. Johnson stayed home to rest after feeling ill Thursday morning, though he played nearly 20 minutes Thursday night in the Avalanche's 3-2 overtime win against Vancouver. McGinn had a sore foot after blocking a shot against the Canucks.
Roy plans to use 12 forwards and six defensemen Saturday as long as Johnson feels better.
"It will depend on how EJ feels, but I assume after 48 hours he should be OK," Roy said.
Semyon Varlamov will start in goal.
The Avalanche lineup is expected to look like this:
FORWARDS Ryan O'Reilly - Matt Duchene - Nathan MacKinnon Gabriel Landeskog - Paul Stastny - Jamie McGinn Cody McLeod - John Mitchell - Max Talbot Brad Malone - Marc-Andre Cliche - Patrick Bordeleau
DEFENSE Jan Hejda -- Erik Johnson Andre Benoit -- Cory Sarich/Nate Guenin Nick Holden - Tyson Barrie
GOALIES Semyon Varlamov Jean-Sebastien Giguere