Steve Hunt, my NHL.com colleague based in Dallas, confirmed that Semyon Varlamov will start in goal for the Avalanche Friday night against the Stars at American Airlines Center.
"I just feel it's the right decision," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy told reporters after the morning skate. "Why wait? Varly looks good this morning. We're all aware what happened and we just feel that he's our guy. We have a lot of confidence in him as a goalie. We feel that it's good for him to play."
Varlamov traveled with the Avalanche on Thursday following his court appearance in Denver in the wake of his domestic violence-related arrest that kept him in jail overnight Wednesday. He posted a $5,000 bond and was given a restraining order to stay away from his girlfriend.
Varlamov didn't talk to the media Friday morning, but that's his usual custom on game days. Jean-Sebastien Giguere is one of the few NHL goalies who is willing to talk in the morning when he's scheduled to start that night.
The Stars are always tough at home and their top goalie, Kari Lehtonen, is healthy again, so this won't be an easy game for the Avalanche. That figured to be the case regardless of the Varlamov situation. Varlamov made 39 saves Oct. 15 when the Avalanche defeated the Stars and backup goalie Dan Ellis 3-2 at the Pepsi Center.
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Newly-acquired forward Maxime Talbot will make his Avalanche debut and skate at right wing on a line with John Mitchell and rookie Nathan MacKinnon. He'll also kill penalties.
I'm still a little puzzled by the trade that sent Steve Downie to Philadelphia in exchange for Talbot. It's interesting that the deal was made the day after Roy said he was switching Downie from Matt Duchene's line to MacKinnon's, moving PA Parenteau to Duchene's unit.
Downie didn't score a goal in his final 10 games with the Avalanche after getting one on a power play in the season opener, but he did have six assists. Parenteau has gone eight games without a goal.
Duchene and Parenteau were terrific together last season, and Roy's plan before training camp even started was to keep them on the same line and use Downie with MacKinnon. But he changed his mind during the preseason, after MacKinnon missed two exhibition games with a hip injury.
Roy said Talbot's ability to kill penalties was a major factor in the decision to acquire him, yet the Avalanche has the best penalty-killing success rate in the NHL. Colorado has yet to give up a power-play goal on the road and has killed 18 penalties in a row overall heading into Friday's game. Also, Cody McLeod will be eligible to return to the lineup Saturday against Montreal at the Pepsi Center, and he's been extremely efficient killing penalties.
MacKinnon only has one goal in the first 11 games, and he's gone five games without a point. Maybe Talbot, who plays with a lot of emotion without taking a lot of penalties, can help re-energize MacKinnon. Talbot did score a career-high 19 goals two years ago. Jamie McGinn, the usual left wing on the line, will miss his second game with a knee injury. He's also mired in a five-game slump.