J.T. Compher will be in the Avalanche lineup Friday when they close out their three-game road trip in Arizona.
Compher hasn’t played since sustaining a head injury Oct. 13 against Calgary. He has three goals and an assist in five games.
The
GAME NOTES.
The Avalanche didn’t have a morning skate, but coach
Jared Bednar told reporters Thursday – U.S. Thanksgiving – that Compher would play on a line with
Vladislav Kamenev, who would remain at center.
Philipp Grubauer will start in goal.
Forward
Marko Dano is back with the Winnipeg Jets organization. The Avalanche claimed him on waivers Oct. 15 from the Jets and waived him Thursday after he played seven games without a point. The Jets brought him back Friday and assigned him to their AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose.
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The Avalanche defeated Anaheim 4-3 in overtime Sunday and Los Angeles 7-3 on Wednesday in the first two games of the trip and are 4-0-1 in the past five games after going 0-4-1 in the previous five.
They play Dallas at the Pepsi Center on Saturday. The Stars also will be playing back-to-back games, as they face Ottawa at home on Friday.
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Congrats to
Semyon Varlamov, who made 33 saves Wednesday against the Kings for his 200th NHL win.
Varlamov became the fifth Russian goalie to reach the milestone. The others:
Evgeni Nabokov (353),
Nikolai Khabibulin (333),
Sergei Bobrovsky (225) and
Ilya Bryzgalov (221).
Antti Raanta is expected to start for Arizona, which has gone 2-4-2 in the past eight games after winning five in a row. Raanta has missed eight games with a lower-body injury.
The Avalanche lineup:
Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Tyson Jost -- Alexander Kerfoot -- Colin Wilson
Sheldon Dries -- Carl Soderberg -- Matt Calvert
J.T. Compher -- Vladislav Kamenev – Matt Nieto or Sven Andrighetto
Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson
Ian Cole -- Tyson Barrie
Patrik Nemeth -- Nikita Zadorov
Philipp Grubauer
Semyon Varlamov