Kerfoot Avoids Serious Injury

WASHINGTON--It appears as if Colorado Avalanche rookie Alexander Kerfoot has avoided serious injury, but he won't play in tonight's contest at the Washington Capitals.
Kerfoot missed the second half of Colorado's outing on Monday night at the Pittsburgh Penguins after he accidently got in the way of a hard shot from teammate Erik Johnson. He left the ice for the locker room at 8:45 of the middle period and didn't return to the game.

Head coach Jared Bednar didn't have a timetable on when the 23-year-old could return to action.
"He's day-to-day. Good news on both his X-ray and CT scan," Bednar said of Kerfoot prior to tonight's contest at Capital One Area. "He took a shot on the foot, day-to-day. He'll be reevaluated when we get back to Denver."
Kerfoot is tied for third on the Avalanche in goals (nine) and points (21) and ranks tied for sixth and fourth, respectively, among NHL rookies in those two categories.
Gabriel Bourque will take Kerfoot's spot in the lineup. It will be Bourque's first contest since Dec. 3 versus the Dallas Stars, as he's been a healthy scratch for the last four outings.
The Avalanche will once again roster a lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen--the fourth straight contest in which it has used the non-traditional format.
Forward Nail Yakupov won't play this evening as he is still dealing with a small illness. Defenseman Duncan Siemens will be the other scratched player.
Semyon Varlamov gets the start in net for Colorado. He has a 3-3-0 record, 2.02 goals-against average and .948 save percentage in six all-time meetings versus Washington.