Matt Duchene (oblique) will not travel with the Avalanche during their upcoming two-game road trip. The Avalanche where hoping that he would be able to return as early as Saturday in Los Angeles, but it looks like that won't be the case. "There's no point in rushing this," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "We need him at 100 percent, and after skating today, he realized he would not be able to play." Duchene is still a possibility for next Wednesday's contest against St. Louis.

Matt Duchene (oblique) might be back as early as Saturday. That would be a bit sooner than initially projected. At the same time, Avalanche coach Patrick Roy cautioned that he wouldn't rush Duchene back for the sake of a November game.

Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy believes Matt Duchene will miss out about a week with an oblique injury. If that's right, Duchene could play again somewhere in the range of Nov. 23 (at Los Angeles), Nov. 27 (home vs. St. Louis) or Nov. 29 at Minnesota. There's always the chance it could be quite a bit worse, but the Avs hope not, especially with a brutal upcoming schedule.

Matt Duchene suffered an oblique injury Saturday night. Oblique injuries can be tricky, and the team will know more tomorrow. It's unclear when exactly Duchene got hurt, but it's safe to say the Avs can't afford to lose him for very long. He played 18 shifts for 12:36 on Saturday with a minus-one rating. Duchene has 12 goals, good for fourth in the league, and 20 points this season.

Matt Duchene got into his first fight of the season on Thursday night. He dropped the gloves with Vladimir Sobotka late in the second period. Duchene also scored his 12th goal of the year, but the Avalanche were easily handled by the Blues by a score of 7-3. His four-game point streak ended Tuesday night, but this was a good rebound effort for him despite the club's loss.

Matt Duchene has registered two goals and four helpers during his present four-game point streak. He has accounted for five goals and 10 points in his past seven games. Duchene has 11 markers and 19 points in 16 matches this season. It looks like it's going to be a career year for the 22-year-old forward.

Matt Duchene didn't practice on Thursday because of a bruised foot. He sustained the ailment when he blocked a shot Wednesday night against the Nashville Predators. However, coach Patrick Roy believes Duchene will be available to play Friday versus Calgary. We'll keep him active for now and we'll let you know if his status changes.

Matt Duchene scored a goal and registered two assists in Colorado's 6-4 loss to Nashville Wednesday evening. Duchene continued his strong season and he now has 10 goals and seven assists in 14 games. PA Parenteau had a goal and an assist, while Paul Stastny and Ryan O'Reilly scored the Avalanche's other goals.

Matt Duchene is tied for third in the NHL with nine goals. "I'm really liking the way I'm shooting the puck," said Duchene. "Every time I'm letting it go, I feel like it has a chance to go in. Even if it doesn't, it gives you confidence." His scoring spree tied him with Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Chris Stewart for the franchise record for goals in October.

Now that it's in the past, Matt Duchene doesn't mind admitting that he didn't think coach Joe Sacco was right for the Avalanche. "There were very few people in this (dressing) room who were happy. Our style of play, it wasn't right for this team. We knew it would fail," Duchene said. "That was the hard part. We knew (any) success was going to be short-lived. It was hard to really be excited about it. For myself, it was really hard to look at what we were doing and think it would keep on working. I can honestly say now, it's not like that." By contrast, he's a big fan of new bench boss Patrick Roy's fast-paced system. Duchene certainly seems to have benefited from it early with eight goals and 12 points in 10 games. Colorado has gotten off to an incredible 9-1-0 record this season.