Avs Briefs JOHNSON BACK ON ICE VS. STARS

dallas » As expected, defenseman Erik Johnson returned to the Avalanche lineup Saturday night against the Stars after missing nine games with a lower body injury.

After the demotion of Nikita Zadorov to San Antonio, Johnson stepped back into the top pairing at even strength with Francois Beauchemin.

Also, defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk was in the lineup after five consecutive games as a healthy scratch.

Defensemen Zach Redmond and Nate Guenin and center Chris Wagner were the scratches.

Winger Blake Comeau, who missed Friday’s game because his wife, Lacey, gave birth to a daughter, was back on the line with Gabe Landeskog and Carl Soderberg.

Mikhail Grigorenko, who skated on that line Friday, was back with Andreas Martinsen and Jarome Iginla.

Coming home. Although the meeting with the Stars was the first of three consecutive games on the road before the all-star break for the Avalanche, the team was scheduled to return to Denver after the game.

The Avs will head out again Monday and play at San Jose on Tuesday and Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Sakic on ice. Colorado general manager Joe Sakic briefly skated in Dallas on Saturday, starting to prepare for the Feb. 26 Red Wings-Avalanche alumni game at Coors Field.

Sakic has a back issue and pain in his leg but is scheduled to play in the outdoor game.

On Zadorov. Coach Patrick Roy revealed the decision to send Zadorov, 20, back to San Antonio late Friday after the win over St. Louis. Chris Bigras, also recalled from the Rampage with Zadorov on Jan. 13, remained with the Avalanche.

“He needs to play,” Roy said of Zadorov. “Bigras is going to stay for a bit and we’ll see. We’ll let him continue to play. He played really well again tonight.”

Roy added: “I thought Z did a lot of good things. We want him to be better with the puck. We felt that he had a bit too many giveaways and we want him to work at that and his game. He was better defensively, and I think he’s heading in the right direction. We feel that he needs the time down there to improve his game and continue to learn the game.”