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Kerfoot expected back vs Canadiens; Grubauer will start |
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Rick Sadowski
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Alexander Kerfoot took part in a full contact practice Tuesday and is expected to play Wednesday when the Avalanche face Montreal at the Pepsi Center.
“It looks like he should be good to play,” coach Jared Bednar said. “I just have to get confirmation (from the medical staff) that he’s in for sure.”
Philipp Grubauer will start in goal.
Kerfoot has missed the past four games with an upper-body injury that he said had been bothering him for a while. He has four goals and 14 assists in 30 games but has gone 12 games without a goal and had one assist in his past nine games before going on the shelf.
"Everything feels good,” the second-year forward said. “Obviously when you are not skating for a couple days it takes a little while to get back up to speed, but I feel good on the ice. It's just about getting the conditioning back and I’ve done a pretty good job of that the last few days."
Kerfoot skated on a line with Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen at practice as Nathan MacKinnon was given a “maintenance” day.
Kerfoot last played Dec. 8 in the Avalanche’s 7-1 loss in Tampa.
“It was kind of just lingering a little bit before (the game) and when we got back from the road trip it kind of got a little worse,” he said. “I just wanted to be cautious with it and everything feels good now."
Bednar said he hadn’t decided where Kerfoot will play when he returns.
“He’s another guy that can play with pace and hopefully provide us some offense," Bednar said. "We have missed him a little bit, he is a big part of our team. Plays the power play, helps us produce in offensive situations. The guy sees the ice real well, so hopefully he comes back on top of his game.
"I thought his game took a little bit of a dip before he went out with the injury and maybe it was bothering him a little bit, I'm not for certain, but we saw (Tyson) Jost come back real strong and (J.T.) Compher come back real strong, so hopefully Kerf can do the exact same thing."
Defense prospect Conor Timmins did some skating while wearing a non-contact jersey as he continues to recover from post-concussion symptoms.
"He looks pretty good,” Bednar said. “I know he’s excited to be out there. Again, I’m cautiously optimistic with Conor because he’s been out for so long. But I think he has been working through some things here lately and pushing his rehab forward and that’s always a positive sign.
“He looks to be in better spirits and being around the team I think can help that, and also help with his recovery. I think all positive things on his front. To get out there on the ice and see him move around and pass the puck with our group I think is a real good sign."
*****
Rantanen’s point streak ended at 14 games Monday in the Avalanche’s uninspiring 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders. He had eight goals and 19 assists in the streak.
“Yeah, it's a long time,” he said. “My linemates have been helping, like I say in every interview. The team has helped me too. I don't really think about it too much. There's so many games left and our goal is to stay in the top three in our division and make the playoffs.”
Semyon Varlamov allowed three goals on 20 shots before Valtteri Filppula scored into an empty net. He’s allowed 21 goals in his past five games covering parts of 13 periods since his 2-0 shutout in Detroit on Dec. 2.
“He was OK,” Bednar said of Varlamov. “Our whole team, I thought we were just OK. I thought (the Islanders) were the hungrier team. They did a really nice job defending.”
The Avalanche have allowed 27 goals – seven on power plays and two shorthanded -- while going 1-3-1 in the past five games. The Islanders were 2-for-4 on power plays after going 2-for-34 in their previous 13 games.
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