Goalie Calvin Pickard has been recalled again from Lake Erie in the AHL and will start Tuesday night when the Avalanche face Nashville at the Pepsi Center to open a three-game homestand.
Coach Patrick Roy said goalie Semyon Varlamov hurt his groin again in practice Monday, wouldn't play against the Predators and would be re-evaluated by the medical staff.
"He doesn't feel comfortable with his groin yet," Roy said. "He re-injured himself today at practice. He was a little sore yesterday after practice, but today he didn't feel good enough to play tomorrow."
Roy said Pickard would start if Varlamov didn't, which tells you all you need to know about Reto Berra.
Varlamov has played in just 15 of the Avalanche's first 27 games. He played in last week's two-game road trip to Calgary and Winnipeg after missing six games with a groin injury he sustained Nov. 15 against New Jersey. He allowed four goals on 25 shots in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Flames and five goals on 30 shots before Berra replaced him early in the third period of a 6-2 loss to the Jets. Varlamov missed three games with a groin injury after getting hurt at the morning skate Oct. 16 in Ottawa.
This is Pickard's third recall this season. He replaced Berra in the first periods of comeback wins against Carolina and Arizona while stopping all 42 shots he faced following his most recent promotion last month. Pickard started the next three games, a 3-2 loss to Chicago, a 5-2 win against Dallas and a 4-3 loss to Montreal before being returned to Lake Erie when Varlamov was activated from injured reserve.
Pickard made 23 saves Sunday in the Monsters' 4-3 overtime win against Rockford. He's won three consecutive starts and the Monsters have won four in a row.
The Avalanche also recalled center Paul Carey from Lake Erie after Roy spoke with Monsters coach Dean Chynoweth. Carey had two goals Sunday. He has six goals and seven assists in 21 games.
The Avalanche will dress 19 players Tuesday against Nashville, one under the limit. Aside from two goalies, they'll play six defensemen and 11 forwards, which includes converted defenseman Nick Holden.
"We talk every day," Roy said of Chynoweth. "We're laughing, but we're not laughing. I've been talking to him a lot lately. He's been doing a good job with our players there."
Aside from Varlamov, the Avalanche are without forwards Patrick Bordeleau (back), Marc-Andre Cliche (oblique), Dennis Everberg (shoulder), Jamie McGinn (back), John Mitchell (leg), Ben Street (hand) and Jesse Winchester (head). Defensemen Brad Stuart (hamstring) and Ryan Wilson (season-ending shoulder surgery) are also out.
Bordeleau, Cliche, Everberg and Winchester practiced Monday while wearing red non-contact jerseys. Roy said Cliche, Everberg and Stuart could return sometime next week after the homestand. McGinn is having back surgery Wednesday, the outcome of which will determine his status for the remainder of the season.
"It's tough, the injuries we're facing right now," Roy said. "It's hard to evaluate our team right now because of it. We've been missing so many players and it's hard to appreciate the work we've done in the offseason. Seeing guys like Winchester not having played a game, Bordeleau hasn't played a game. McGinn has played just a handful of games and he didn't feel really good in half of them or pretty much every one of them. Wilson, Stuart ... Varly's been out for (12) games so far this year and Mitchell missed a lot of games at the start of the season and is missing still.
"It's hard to evaluate the work. It's almost unfair to say (to a player), 'You're not producing the way you should,' but who would? At the same time I certainly appreciate the effort that we put every night on the ice. If the third line and fourth line chipped in goals the way they did in the past, that takes some pressure off the first and second line and helps everybody.
"It is (frustrating) to some extent. At the same time I guess it makes us appreciate when we're going to be healthy again. There's some great stories. Pickard was a good story and it gave an opportunity to a guy like Everberg, who played well, and (Karl) Stollery right now is playing well. There's some good stories or us and it makes us realize how important it is to have good depth and really take care of our minor league team."