NEWARK, N.J. — The Avalanche had expected defenseman John-Michael Liles to be back in the lineup against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night after he missed the previous four games with an injured wrist.
Colorado, however, decided against activating him from the injured reserve list and he didn’t play in the 4-0 loss at the Prudential Center.
“He’s close, but rather than force him in there, give him another day and hopefully he’ll be ready for Saturday,” Avalanche coach Tony Granato said.
Scratched.
Winger Marek Svatos, who went back into the slump mode after getting five goals in seven games in late January and early February, was a healthy scratch against the Devils. Tyler Arnason also was scratched for the second consecutive game. T.J. Hensick was back in the lineup after sitting out the previous three.
Scouting.
With less than a week remaining before Wednesday’s trading deadline, eight pro scouts from six other NHL teams were at the Devils-Avalanche game. The list: Vancouver’s Lucien DeBlois, the Rangers’ Kevin Maxwell, Edmonton’s Morey Gare, Philadelphia’s Chris Pryor, Detroit’s Glenn Merkosky and three representing the Los Angeles Kings — Jack Ferreira, Rob Laird and Nick Bobrov.
The significance of the affiliations is open to interpretation, but there has been speculation in Detroit that the Wings might be interested in picking up a “character” winger such as Ian Laperriere, and the Kings also have been mentioned as a possibility to be involved in multiple-team deal with the Avalanche.
Odd man out . . . for now.
Goalie Scott Clemmensen was 25-13-1 for the Devils after being recalled on an emergency basis following Martin Brodeur’s biceps injury in November. Clemmensen was sent back to Lowell of the AHL, and Kevin Weekes remained as the backup when Brodeur was activated, in part because of the procedural and waiver rules involving emergency call-ups. The Devils could bring Clemmensen back after the trading deadline without exposing him to waivers, but the other possibility is dealing him before the deadline — now that he has made himself a more valuable commodity. Terry Frei, The Denver Post
