While Avalanche center Paul Stastny is thrilled about his selection to the U.S. Olympic team for the second time, he's disappointed for teammate Erik Johnson, who didn't make it.

"I thought he had a really good shot," Stastny said this morning. "He's always played well on the big sheet. It's a bummer for him. I was hoping we'd be able to go together. I'll be going there with just one goal in mind, to come back with the gold."

Stastny played on the 2010 Olympic team that won a silver medal in Vancouver and had one goal and two assists in six games. He had seven goals and eight assists in 10 games when the U.S. won a bronze medal at last spring's World Championships. He has 11 goals, 14 assists and a plus-4 plus/minus rating in 37 games with the Avalanche this season.

Johnson is having his best season since joining the Avalanche three years ago with six goals, 11 assists and a plus-10 plus/minus rating in 39 games, though he's been a combined minus-8 in the past five games. He and defense partner Jan Hejda were both minus-4 in the Avalanche's 7-2 loss in Chicago on Dec. 27.

"Probably the most disappointing fact is I didn't expect to make it at the beginning of the year, but with how well I've played these first three months, it put me back into the mix and into consideration," Johnson said. "The hardest part is knowing that I couldn't have done anything more as far as my play. At the same time, I can't look at anyone on that team and say they didn't deserve to be there, because they're all good players.

"It's disappointing, but at the same time my focus is on this team now and maybe now it'll be a little less of a distraction and I'll use that two-week break to recharge and get ready for the playoffs."

Johnson said he received a telephone call from Team USA director of player personnel Brian Burke after team members were announced following Wednesday's Winter Classic.

"He called me maybe 10 seconds after my name wasn't announced and said I was in the mix until the end and to stay ready and if there's an injury I'll be called," Jonson said. "You hear that you're right there until the end. It's encouraging and disappointing at the same time. I couldn't have played any better, I don't think, to give myself a chance to be on the team. I'm just going to continue to do the same things that I have so far this season."

Johnson also played on the 2010 Olympic team and had one goal in six games. He had two goals and two assists in 10 games for the U.S. in last year's World Championships.

*****

Max Talbot is looking forward to playing against his former Philadelphia Flyers teammates tonight at the Pepsi Center. The teams are meeting for the first time since the Avalanche acquired Talbot from the Flyers in exchange for forward Steve Downie on Oct. 31.

"It's exciting," Talbot said. "You play against 20 guys that you battled with and that you know, the coaching staff, everybody. So it's always exciting and a little bit of fun. You look forward to it."

The Avalanche has gone 14-10-4 since the deal, while the Flyers have posted a 17-8-4 record to move into third place in the Metropolitan Division. The Flyers have won four games in a row and are 7-1-1 in their past nine games. Talbot has three goals and six assists in 28 games since the trade, and he plays on the first penalty-killing unit.

Talbot will skate on a line with Matt Duchene and Jamie McGinn, the unit that coach Patrick Roy used late in the second period and in the third Tuesday in the Avalanche's 5-3 win against Columbus. Seems a bit weird to me, but we'll see how it goes.

"We're trying to get more offense," Duchene said this morning. "We're just trying to shake the tree a little bit. I know what type of players these guys are and what to expect. It's not really a big deal. They're both guys that are north-south players that can make plays, so I've enjoyed the times I've played with them. These guys are going to go to the net hard and I'm going to try to get pucks there for them and hopefully we'll get a couple of ugly goals."

Downie, who has missed six games because of injuries, has two goals and 10 assists in 23 games with the Flyers. He's expected to play on the third line tonight with Sean Couturier and Vincent Lecavalier.

Semyon Varlamov will start in goal for the Avalanche. Steve Mason will start for the Flyers.

Here's the Avalanche lineup:

FORWARDS
Gabriel Landeskog -- Paul Stastny -- Ryan O'Reilly
Max Talbot -- Matt Duchene -- Jamie McGinn
Cody McLeod -- John Mitchell -- Nathan MacKinnon
Brad Malone -- Marc-Andre Cliche -- Patrick Bordeleau

DEFENSE
Erik Johnson -- Jan Hejda
Andre Benoit -- Cory Sarich
Ryan Wilson -- Tyson Barrie

GOALIES
Semyon Varlamov
Jean-Sebastien Giguere

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