Avalanche right wing PA Parenteau, who sustained a sprained knee Dec. 29 against Winnipeg, practiced Friday and is hoping to be able to play Tuesday against Toronto at the Pepsi Center, which certainly is encouraging news.
Right wing Alex Tanguay also practiced and continues to show progress, though it still isn't known when he might be able to return from the knee and hip injuries he sustained Nov. 2 against Montreal.
I wasn't able to get to practice because I had some issues to take care of, but here's what they had to say, courtesy of the Avalanche:
"They thought it was going to be six weeks, but it's going to be a little quicker than that," Parenteau said. "It's a good feeling. I'm targeting Tuesday to play, so we'll see how it goes, but that's the plan right now. I think maybe I've just been lucky with my rehab. I've worked pretty hard and it's nice when it's shorter than expected because I'm not made to be watching games. I'm glad to be back and to be back healthy."
Here's Tanguay:
"It's nice (to practice), it's been a long time. It's always frustrating when you're acquired (in a trade) and you're hurt. I've had a couple setbacks and it's been an uphill battle, but we've worked hard. The training staff has done a tremendous job and I'm getting closer to being back on the ice for games. I'm hoping it's going to pan out real soon."
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I spoke with center Matt Duchene Thursday night after the Avalanche's 2-1 shootout win against New Jersey. He celebrated his 23rd birthday by scoring against goalie Cory Schneider in the first round of the shootout, skating down right wing before sliding the puck between Schneider's pads. But he remains frustrated with his goal-scoring drought in regulation and overtime.
Ryan O'Reilly, who has four goals in a three-game streak and leads the Avalanche with 18 goals to tie his career high, followed Duchene's lead. He also skated down right wing but this time lifted the puck off Schneider's left shoulder into the net.
"I told him I was going to do that move and I said if I scored to do the same thing and come in on that angle," Duchene said. "He did a great shot on that, an unbelievable shot upstairs."
Duchene has 16 goals and leads the Avalanche with 40 points, but he's gone 13 games without a goal since netting one Dec. 16 against Edmonton. Duchene, who needs two goals to reach 100 for his career, has taken 41 shots on goal and has nine assists in this stretch.
"It's frustrating, but you just have to stay positive," said Duchene, who logged a team-high 25:51 in ice time against the Devils, had five shots on goal and won nine of 14 faceoffs. "I can't believe one didn't go in (Thursday). It feels like I'm getting four, five, six shots a game now. I've hit three goal posts in the last two (games).
"At the beginning of the year everything I touched went in. You go through phases like this and hopefully another one of those is right around the corner. It's been a long time since I scored, but I feel like I'm still getting points and contributing offensively. I'm really happy with my game, so it's eventually going to go in."
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The Avalanche has matched the 2000-01 Stanley Cup championship team for the fastest in franchise history to reach 30 wins in a season (47 games) ... The team is 7-1-2 in the past 10 games ... Goalie Semyon Varlamov is 10-0-5 in his past 15 decisions. His streak of 15 consecutive decisions without a regulation loss is one shy of the franchise record set by Peter Budaj (13-0-3) from Feb. 24 - April 5, 2007. Patrick Roy went 12-0-2 from March 26 - Oct. 28, 2000.