MONTREAL — With John-Michael Liles bending over in obvious pain, his shoulder sagging, it appeared the Avalanche defenseman might have suffered a separated shoulder Tuesday night in Toronto.
From the medical room came relatively good news a day later: Liles will miss only two weeks or so with a bruised right shoulder.
Liles scored a goal in the Avs’ 4-1 victory over Toronto and had five points in his first six games.
Rookie Ryan Wilson, a native of Windsor, Ontario, is expected to replace Liles in the lineup and make his NHL debut tonight against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre. Wilson was called up over the weekend from Lake Erie of the AHL to fill in for injured veteran defender Ruslan Salei (sore back).
The Avs will play in Montreal for the Canadiens’ home opener. Colorado hopes to improve its road record to 3-1-1 with a win.
Special teams click.
The biggest improvement to the Avs so far, compared to last season? That’s easy — special teams.
The Avs have a league- leading 10 power-play goals in their six games.
Last season, they had an 82-game total of 50. Entering Wednesday, the Avs were fifth in the league on the penalty kill, at 87.5 percent. They finished 21st overall in 2008-09.
Defenseman Kyle Quincey has made a huge difference in both areas, manning one of the points on the power play and logging ice time on the penalty kill.
Quincey is averaging a team-high 24:58 per game, and his minutes might go up some with the injury to Liles.
“He’s been a great addition to the team,” captain Adam Foote said of Quincey. “He’s strong on his skates and does all the little things right.”
Rookies Ryan O’Reilly and Matt Hendricks have played well as two of the lead forwards on the penalty kill as well.
The Avs remain mum as to whether they plan to keep O’Reilly, 18, for the full NHL season or send him back to junior. But O’Reilly’s play is making the latter option seem more unlikely with every passing game.
Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com
Notebook
Avalanche: Coach Joe Sacco doesn’t like to let the media know who his goaltender will be until the day of a game, but Craig Anderson is the likely starter again. If so, it will be his seventh consecutive start. Anderson has an 0-2-1 career record against Montreal, with a 3.86 goals-against average. Backup Peter Budaj is 0-1 against the Canadiens, with a 3.05 GAA. . . . The Avs took Wednesday off. . . . Avs winger Milan Hejduk has seven goals in 11 career games against the Habs.
Canadiens: A hullabaloo was made here this week when Montreal enforcer Georges Laraque was shown in a video advertisement for an alcoholic energy drink, an ad that also showed Laraque playing street hockey with a group of scantily clad women. Laraque apologized for his actions and the Canadiens said they will not discipline the popular winger. . . . The Canadiens have lost three straight and have been off since losing Saturday in Edmonton. . . .. Montreal allowed 14 goals in those three games. . . . Montreal is coached by former Avs assistant Jacques Martin, in his first year with the Habs.
