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Stastny won't play against Blackhawks; Berra, Carey, Malone arrive |
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Rick Sadowski
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Second place in the Central Division will be on the line when the Avalanche plays the Chicago Blackhawks at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday night, but Colorado will be without center Paul Stastny and right wing PA Parenteau.
Stastny remains sidelined because of a back injury and Parenteau is expected to be out for between four and six weeks with the second degree medial collateral ligament sprain in his right knee he sustained on his first shift Monday against Winnipeg.
Coach Patrick Roy said Tuesday he's hopeful Stastny will be able to play Friday against the Anaheim Ducks in the finale of the four-game homestand.
The Avalanche called up forwards Paul Carey and Brad Malone from the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League and they'll skate on the fourth line Wednesday with Patrick Bordeleau.
Goalie Reto Berra, acquired last week from Calgary for a second-round draft pick, arrived in Denver on Monday night after getting his immigration papers in order and he took part in an optional practice Tuesday. He'll be the third-string goalie behind Semyon Varlamov and Jean-Sebastien Giguere, and work with goalie coach Francois Allaire.
Roy said Varlamov will start Wednesday against the Blackhawks, Friday against the Ducks and Sunday in Ottawa when the Avalanche opens a three-game road trip. Giguere will be the backup Wednesday and Friday and start next Tuesday in Montreal.
The Avalanche (42-18-5, 89 points) is in third in the division, one point behind Chicago (38-13-14, 90 points) and five behind the first-place St. Louis Blues (44-14-6, 94 points), who before Tuesday's games had the best record in the NHL.
"This is quite a story right now," Roy said of the team's drastic improvement from a year ago. "Our players certainly deserve a lot of credit for what they've been doing. At the same time, we're just going to stay the same and remain even keel in everything we're doing.
"We know Chicago's a very good team and I'm sure there's going to be a lot of excitement from our fans. I expect to see a lot of fans with the Avalanche jersey and not as much with Chicago. It may be too early to compare ourselves with them for what they've accomplished, but we certainly look up to them. They've been so successful over the years, especially the last four or five, winning two Stanley Cups. It just shows how good that team is."
The Avalanche won three of the first four games against the Blackhawks, most recently a 4-2 decision in Chicago last week when Varlamov made 36 saves.
"Whenever you play one of the top teams in the league it gives you some extra motivation," team captain Gabriel Landeskog said. "For us, we want to establish ourselves as one of those teams. To do that we have to beat the best teams. They've won the Stanley Cup twice in the last four years so this is a team you want to beat and measure yourself up to."
Roy said the Avalanche would continue to play a fast-paced game despite the losses of Stastny and Parenteau (and Alex Tanguay, who is recovering from season-ending hip surgery).
"We're still going to bring the puck to the net and try to take advantage of our scoring chances," he said. "All year we've found a way to go through adversity and we've found a way to play well when we were missing players. It shows the depth we have on our team and the confidence I have in our guys.
"We like the speed of our team and I think it's the way to sell the game. Any fans that came to see us play lately, I'm sure they enjoyed themselves. It's a high-tempo game, fast, intense, and it was physical the last two games. It's great hockey. From a fans' perspective, it cannot be better than this."
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The Avalanche lines will look like this:
Ryan O'Reilly -- Matt Duchene -- Jamie McGinn
Gabriel Landeskog -- John Mitchell -- Nathan MacKinnon
Cody McLeod -- Marc-Andre Cliche -- Max Talbot
Brad Malone -- Paul Carey -- Patrick Bordeleau
Roy will go with six defensemen, but he hadn't decided which players would be scratched, though Ryan Wilson will be one of them.
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Carey, 25, was a fifth-round pick (135th overall) in 2007 from Boston College, where he played four years, won a national championship as a senior in 2011-12 and was named to the Frozen Four All Tournament team. A Boston native, he's 6-feet and 175 pounds. He had 19 goals and 22 assists in 72 games last year with Lake Erie. This season, he has eight goals and 13 assists in 54 games.
"In training camp I loved his speed," Roy said. "He's a fast skater. I think he's having a good year in the minors, maybe not up to what we thought; we expected a little more from him. His speed is certainly one of the reasons why he's been called up and we certainly want to see what he can bring to this team in the future."
Carey was in Cleveland when he got the call from the Avalanche around 12:30 am EDT Tuesday. He arrived at the practice rink just in time to suit up.
"Pretty much put my skates on and hit the ice," he said. "I couldn't be happier. I was really excited to get the call. Jumping in here at this point in the season with playoffs coming up, I want to be able to help out the team as much as I can. To be in the run for first place is incredible. I think it's pretty special to come into this lineup to try and help out."
Malone is joining the Avalanche for the second time this season. He had two assists in 15 games after starting the year with Lake Erie. A 6-2, 207-pounder, Malone had eight goals and seven assists in 35 games with the Monsters.
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Berra, 27, had a 9-17-2 record with Calgary, along with a 2.95 goals-against average and .897 save percentage in his first NHL season. He's from Bulach, Switzerland, and attended some goalie camps in his native country run by Allaire. He played one game for the Swiss Olympic team last month in Sochi, stopping 30 of 31 shots in a 1-0 loss to Sweden.
"I'm sure (Allaire) wants to make my game better, work hard and improve everything," said Berra, who is 6-4, 194 pounds. "He can probably help me a lot in technical things. For me, it's a great opportunity. I'm really happy to be here. I still feel like a rookie in the NHL and I feel like I can improve a lot here. It's awesome to be a part of this here. I have to say I had a great time in Calgary, too, and I'm really thankful that they gave me the opportunity to come over and make my first step in the NHL. But now I'm excited to be here."
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