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MacKinnon to replace Duchene at center

Nathan MacKinnon

Nathan MacKinnon #29 of the Colorado Avalanche skates against the Anaheim Ducks during preseason action at Pepsi Center on September 18, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Ducks defeated the Avalanche 2-1. (September 17, 2013 - Source: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images North America)

In the absence of injured center Matt Duchene, the top two Colorado Avalanche lines will look a little different when the suddenly struggling club hosts Chicago tomorrow.

Following is what the Denver Post expects we’ll see:

Gabriel Landeskog - Nathan MacKinnon - Ryan O’Reilly
Jamie McGinn - Paul Stastny - P.A. Parenteau

The Avs have also called up forward Brad Malone from AHL Lake Erie; the 24-year-old is expected to play on the fourth line with Marc-Andre Cliche and Patrick Bordeleau.

And just to round things out, the third line should feature John Mitchell between Cody McLeod and Max Talbot.

We wondered last week if the Avs could be headed for a reality check; their 4-1 loss to Florida on Saturday was their third straight regulation defeat.

To make matters worse, here’s what’s coming up:

Avs schedule

Of note: goalie Semyon Varlamov’s save percentage for November is just .898. That’s well down from the .945 mark he registered in October, when he went 7-1-0 with a 1.76 goals-against average.

Related: Varlamov says his personal life ‘shouldn’t interfere’ with hockey