Pickard expected to start for Avalanche vs. Sharks

AVALANCHE (26-21-3) at SHARKS (25-18-4)
TV: NBCSN, SN1, SNE, SNO, SNW
SAN JOSE -- The Colorado Avalanche are expected to start backup goaltender Calvin Pickard, who is battling the flu, when they face the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Tuesday.
Pickard, defenseman Erik Johnson and third-line center Mikhail Grigorenko missed Colorado's morning skate at SAP Center because of an illness that has hit the team.

"Pick's going to be fine," Roy said. "He said he was already feeling better. Just needs some fluid in his body. He should be ready for tonight's game. ... I'm confident everybody's going to be ready to play."
Top goaltender Semyon Varlamov remained in Denver to attend to a legal matter relating to a domestic abuse charge in 2013 that was dropped.
Coach Patrick Roy said Varlamov also will miss Colorado's game Wednesday against the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center.
"He's not going to come on the trip," Roy said. "The plan is to have him do his thing. We'll focus on our two games."
Reto Berra, who began the season as Colorado's backup goaltender, is on injured reserve with an ankle injury. The Avalanche called up goaltender Roman Will from San Antonio of the American Hockey League. He arrived in San Jose on Monday night and took part in the morning skate Tuesday.
Will has yet to make his NHL debut. He's 6-5-2 with a 3.38 goals-against average and .895 save percentage for San Antonio.
"If I play, I will take it like every other game and be in the moment and enjoy the process," Will said.
Roy said he expects Pickard to start against the Sharks and Kings in Colorado's final two games before the All-Star Game break.
Varlamov went 4-0-0 last week and was named the NHL's No. 1 Star. He gave up one goal in each game, facing a combined 142 shots. Pickard went 1-1-0 in his past two starts, making 27 saves in a 3-0 shutout of the New Jersey Devils on Jan 14 and 19 saves in a 2-1 loss to Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 16. Pickard made 35 saves in Colorado's 6-3 victory against the Sharks at SAP Center on Dec. 28.
The Avalanche have gone 7-3-0 over their past 10 games but will face a hot Sharks team that has gone 7-1-2 over their past 10 games, with points in nine straight.
Sharks forward Dainius Zubrus, who has missed the past nine games with an upper body injury, will return to the lineup and skate on the fourth line, replacing Mike Brown in San Jose's final game before the break.
"I think it's going to take a little bit of time yet to heal, but I've been feeling good and I'll be ready to go tonight," Zubrus said after San Jose's optional morning skate at Sharks Ice. "I really wanted to play a game before the break because I'm hoping that after the break I'll be back in the lineup and playing. So yeah, I didn't want to go through that long of a period without a game. It will be nice to be back out there."
Colorado went 4-for-6 on the power play in its victory at San Jose in December. Top-line center Nathan MacKinnon had his second career hat trick that game and scored two of his goals on the power play.
"The whole game was on the power play," MacKinnon said. "We were clicking early. I think we scored two in the first and two in the third on the power play. We were definitely very good."
San Jose's penalty kill ranks 24th in the NHL overall and 27th at home.
"I think when we limit the opportunities and our focus is one, two, three kills a game, I think we've been good," Sharks forward Tommy Wingels said. "But it's when we get into giving teams more opportunities than they need. … There are so many good players in this league, when you give them more time with a man advantage, they're going to score. That's just the reality of it."
Here are the projected lineups:
AVALANCHE
Alex Tanguay - Nathan MacKinnon - Matt Duchene
Gabriel Landeskog - Carl Soderberg - Blake Comeau
Andreas Martinsen - Mikhail Grigorenko - Jarome Iginla
Cody McLeod - John Mitchell - Jack Skille
Francois Beauchemin - Erik Johnson
Nick Holden - Tyson Barrie
Zach Redmond - Chris Bigras
Calvin Pickard
Roman Will
Injured: Ben Street (chest), Brad Stuart (back), Jesse Winchester (chest), Reto Berra (ankle)
Scratched: Andrew Bodnarchuk, Nate Guenin, Chris Wagner, Semyon Varlamov
SHARKS
Tomas Hertl - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski
Matt Nieto - Patrick Marleau - Joel Ward
Joonas Donskoi - Logan Couture - Tommy Wingels
Melker Karlsson - Chris Tierney - Dainius Zubrus
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Justin Braun
Paul Martin - Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon - Dylan DeMelo
Martin Jones
Alex Stalock
Injured: None
Scratched: Matt Tennyson, Mike Brown
Status report: Skille, who left Saturday's game against the Dallas Stars after a violent crash into the boards in the first period, skated Tuesday and said he's good to go against San Jose. Skille did not return against the Stars and did not practice Monday. ... If Johnson can't play, Nate Guenin likely would replace him in the lineup. ... If Grigorenko can't play, Chris Wagner would take his place in the lineup.
Who's hot: Thornton has a nine-game point streak with two goals and 10 assists. ... Pavelski has two goals and three assists in his past three games. ... Soderberg has four points (2-2-4) over his past four games. ... Landeskog had his second game- winning goal of the season, against Dallas.