Avalanche coach Patrick Roy is back in Montreal for what should be an entertaining game Tuesday night against the Canadiens, and center Paul Stastny will be in the lineup for the first time since hurting his back March 8 against St. Louis.
Stastny will be back at his usual spot on a line with Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon, so center John Mitchell returns to the third line with Cody McLeod and Max Talbot. Mitchell had three goals and two assists in four games with Landeskog and MacKinnon.
"I feel good," Stastny told reporters. "It's been a week now and I've felt better every day. I wouldn't put myself in jeopardy for any reason. I'm feeling good."
You know the Avalanche would love to win this one for Roy, who backstopped the Canadiens to Stanley Cups in 1986 and 1993. Roy left on bitter terms in 1995 when he was traded to Colorado, but he and the Canadiens eventually made amends and his No. 33 jersey was officially retired and raised to the Bell Centre rafters in 2008.
"I was very happy to be back in the family, and having the opportunity to see my jersey retired meant a lot to me," Roy said during a jam-packed news conference Monday. "I learned a lot from this franchise. It helped me to become the person I am. Not only the person I am, but also the player I was."
Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who is from Montreal, will get the start in goal. He has an 8-3-1 career record against the Canadiens, who will start Carey Price.
The Avalanche has won its past four road games and has gone 14-4-3 against the Canadiens since the franchise has been in Denver. Colorado has won the past four games in Montreal.
A win would give the Avalanche 45 for the season, a number that hasn't been reached since 2001-02.
Colorado has a 21-9-2 road record, while the Canadiens are 19-11-5 at home. They've won their past two games.
The Avalanche concludes the three-game road trip Wednesday in Winnipeg, where goalie Reto Berra is scheduled to make his first start since his March 5 acquisition from Calgary.
Here's the Avalanche lineup (Paul Carey, Cory Sarich and Ryan Wilson will be scratched):
FORWARDS Ryan O'Reilly -- Matt Duchene -- Jamie McGinn Gabriel Landeskog -- Paul Stastny -- Nathan MacKinnon Cody McLeod -- John Mitchell -- Max Talbot Brad Malone -- Marc-Andre Cliche -- Patrick Bordeleau
DEFENSE Jan Hejda -- Erik Johnson Andre Benoit -- Nate Guenin Nick Holden -- Tyson Barrie
GOALIES Jean-Sebastien Giguere Semyon Varlamov