I asked Avalanche coach Patrick Roy after practice today for an update on injured right wing Alex Tanguay, and he said we'll know early next week whether the news is good or bad.
Tanguay has been sidelined since he sustained knee and hip injuries in a Nov. 2 game against Montreal.
"Monday or Tuesday will be a big test for him," Roy said. "He's going to skate and if it goes well, we'll keep going (with his rehab). If it's not, then we're probably going to have to have surgery for his hip. That's where we are."
The Avalanche definitely has missed the 34-year-old forward. He was playing quite well with three goals and six assists in 13 games.
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Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said he didn't mean to injure Flyers forward Michael Raffl with his first-period hit in Thursday's game. Raffl, who was playing on the Flyers top line with Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek, will be sidelined indefinitely because of a concussion.
"To be honest with you, I didn't consider it to be a big hit," Landeskog said Friday. "I didn't come in with too much speed. I saw him close to the puck and he was kind of next to the boards. I just tried to finish my check. Unfortunately, his head hit the boards and he got hurt.
"My intention was just to eliminate him from the play. I tried to hit him as low as possible. I didn't try to aim for his head or anything. I hope he's going to be all right."
No penalty was assessed and Flyers coach Craig Berube said after the game that he felt it was a clean check.
Landeskog missed 11 games last season with head and leg injuries he sustained on a hit by San Jose defenseman Brad Stuart.
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No question that Saturday afternoon's game against the Sharks at the Pepsi Center, when the Avalanche reaches the midway point in the schedule, is a big deal to left wing Jamie McGinn.
"I want to win real bad, that's for sure," he said. "San Jose is an elite team and it's going to be a big game for us to see how we match up. They have a lot of skill and they're going to work hard and they're well coached over there, but so are we."
McGinn was acquired in a five-player trade with the Sharks on Feb. 27, 2012. The Avalanche also received prospects Mike Connolly and Michael Sgarbossa in exchange for T.J. Galiardi, Daniel Winnik and a seventh-round draft pick.
McGinn has scored a goal in each of the past two games after getting one goal and one assist in the previous 10 games. He has eight goals and five assists in 37 games overall and will play on a line with Matt Duchene and Max Talbot again Saturday.
"The most important thing is we're winning," he said. "All I care about is winning here. This is a big opportunity this year for us to make the playoffs."
McGinn skated down the slot to knock in the rebound of Duchene's redirection off a pass from defenseman Erik Johnson in Thursday's game. He backhanded in a rebound of Duchene's shot Tuesday against Columbus.
"We've been working a lot in practice on going to the net and putting pucks on net," McGinn said. (Thursday) EJ made a great pass and Dutchie almost put it in himself. I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time."
The Sharks beat the Avalanche 5-4 in a shootout in San Jose on Dec. 23. Johnson and McGinn scored late goals to give the Avalanche a brief 4-3 lead, but Sharks center Joe Pavelski, who always seems to score against Colorado, tied it with 19 seconds left.
"We were in it and we escaped with one point," McGinn said. "I want us to end on top this time, that's all I can say. We owe them now in our building."
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Roy said he would go with the same lineup against the Sharks that he used Thursday. So defensemen Nick Holden and Nate Guenin will play again, with Tyson Barrie and Ryan Wilson healthy scratches.
"We're going to need to use everybody," Roy said. "It was good timing for these two guys to jump in the lineup. Everybody needs to feel important, everybody's part of our team and I think the success of this team is going to come from everyone."
The Avalanche lineup for Saturday:
FORWARDS Gabriel Landeskog -- Paul Stastny -- Ryan O'Reilly Jamie McGinn -- Matt Duchene -- Max Talbot Cody McLeod -- John Mitchell -- Nathan MacKinnon Brad Malone -- Marc-Andre Cliche -- Patrick Bordeleau
DEFENSE Erik Johnson -- Jan Hejda Andre Benoit -- Cory Sarich Nick Holden -- Nate Guenin
GOALIES Semyon Varlamov Jean-Sebastien Giguere