The Colorado Avalanche’s leading scorer, Matt Duchene, won’t make the trip West for games Thursday and Saturday in Phoenix and Los Angeles, respectively.
Instead, Duchene will stay home and rehab the oblique injury that kept him out of last night’s 5-1 win over Chicago.
“There’s no point in rushing this,” Avs coach Patrick Roy said Wednesday, per the Denver Post. “We need him at 100 percent, and after skating today, he realized he would not be able to play.”
The Coyotes and Kings have both been tough to beat at home. Phoenix is 9-0-1 at Jobing.com Arena; L.A. is 8-3-0 at the Staples Center.
That said, the Avs have been pretty good on the road, racking up a 6-2-0 record away from the Pepsi Center, including wins in Boston, Washington and Pittsburgh.
Last night against the Blackhawks, Colorado rolled all four lines, with no one forward playing more than 20 minutes and only winger Patrick Bordeleau spending less than 10 minutes (9:47) on the ice.
