The Avalanche has assigned defenseman Ryan Wilson to the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League on a two-week conditioning assignment.
Wilson missed 36 games last season because of an ankle injury and 22 games this year with a back injury. He hurt his knee in the team's Burgundy and White intrasquad game and all of the preseason games. Wilson, who was a healthy scratch the past two games, has four assists in 13 games.
"We sat down with him and I suggested it might be good for him to go to the minors and play five games," coach Patrick Roy said this morning. "They're playing five games in 10 days. He's going to practice with them (Tuesday) and then he's going to play Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Then he's going to play two more and come back on the 19th."
Defenseman Nate Guenin hurt his ankle Saturday against San Jose and won't play tonight against Calgary at the Pepsi Center.
"Took a puck on the ankle," Roy said. "He can't put weight on his ankle. Knowing Nate, I think he's going to be back pretty soon."
Tyson Barrie will take Guenin's place in the lineup against the Flames. The Avalanche is down to 20 healthy players, but Roy said there won't be any call-ups from Lake Erie.
No word yet on Alex Tanguay, who is expected to try and skate early this week to determine if he has a chance of returning to the lineup or will need hip surgery.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere will start in goal for the Avalanche against a Flames team that has gone 1-6-2 in their past nine games and has scored one goal during a four-game losing streak. Karri Ramo will start for Calgary.
Roy said his players better not take the Bob Hartley-coached Flames lightly.
"If we think we're going to have an easy game, we're wrong," Roy said. "(Calgary) is a team that's going to work hard. This is a team that's almost in every game. I know a lot of times they finish on the wrong side, but at the same time they're going to work hard and they're going to give us a good battle. We're going to have to be ready for these guys because I expect them to play a good game tonight."
*****
Center Matt Duchene probably will have a hard time getting much sleep tonight. Canadian Olympic team officials will announce the roster on Tuesday.
"This has been a crazy week, it's running through your head a lot," said Duchene, who leads the Avalanche in scoring with 16 goals and 22 assists. "The nice part is when I come to the rink and I'm around the boys preparing for these games, it's out of my head. I'm just trying to help this team win. The only tough part is when you're lying in bed at night when you're home by yourself."
Roy said he'd be "very surprised" if Duchene doesn't make the cut.
"He's having a really good year," Roy said. "He's been playing very well for us, he's been consistent. He's capable of making guys around him look better. These are qualities of good hockey players, and that's what Dutchie does for us. His speed will be an important asset on the big-sized rink. Dutchie has worked hard to be better defensively and offensively."
*****
The Avalanche takes a three-game winning streak and 3-0-1 record in the first four games of a seven-game homestand into tonight's game. Colorado went 26-11-4 in the first half of the season and sits third in the Central Division with 56 points, seven ahead of fourth-place Minnesota and nine in front of fifth-place Dallas.
"I would say we're satisfied with what we've done in terms of the games we've played, but we're not satisfied in terms of the season," Duchene said. "We're even more hungry than ever. The more you win, the more you get hungry for it; it's contagious. I think that's what we're feeling right now. You get on a bit of a roll and you just want to keep piling more points on and more wins.
"If we have as good a second half as we did the first half, we know we're in the playoffs for sure. We had a heck of a first half, but we want to get even better. It's fun to look around and see guys continually getting better, and that's going to make us better as a team."
Tonight's lineup:
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 -- Tyson Barrie
GOALIES Jean-Sebastien Giguere Semyon Varlamov