1. CENTENNIAL, Colo. — The Colorado Avalanche have had a rough couple of days to wrap their home stand up. A loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday and blown lead to the Calgary Flames on Monday can kill the morale. Colorado needed some rest. So an optional skate was in order for practice on Tuesday morning.

Optional  skate

A lot of the top-six players took the day to rest and recover. Same was the case for the top defensemen as well. The Blues and the Flames were two of the heaviest hitting teams that the Avalanche have played in some time. After those two games, some bumps and bruises were to be expected. Here were the players that were present at the optional skate today:

Landeskog – Kiviranta – Wood – Nelson – Vesey – Nichushkin – Drury – Colton

Lindgren – Middleton

Blackwood – Wedgewood

Landeskog

One player that everyone will notice is Gabriel Landeskog, skating for his second consecutive day.

“The positive side, for me, is he’s pushing harder and harder every time he goes on the ice,” said head coach Jared Bednar of Landeskog.

On Tuesday’s optional skate, Landeskog was a full participant, going into the corners and making cuts away from other players. He still was limiting the contact that he was taking from everyone.

Other injury updates

Joel Kiviranta showed he was in good spirits, and Bednar mentioned he will travel with the team to Chicago. The plan is to get him back into the lineup on Wednesday night.

Josh Manson did not skate with the team on Tuesday, but will stay home to continue his recovery and rehab with skills coach Toby Peterson. Landeskog will also join the two, making this the first time in many months that we could see Landeskog skate in public without the team.

After the skate, there were some NHL Alumni that were out for a scrimmage. Players like John-Michael Liles, Kyle Quincey, Milan Hejduk, and Joe Sakic were on the ice. Some of them may be pushing 60-years old, but their hands are still there.