GLENDALE, Ariz. — Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson is not traveling with the team and will miss consecutive-night, two city games beginning Thursday at the Arizona Coyotes. Colorado’s only selected NHL all-star has missed the past 21 games after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in the days leading into January’s all-star break.

But Johnson is close to coming off the injured reserve, and could be poised to play in the final 11 games starting Monday at Calgary. Johnson has been meticulously training with strength and conditioning coach Casey Bond in Denver.

“Right now he’s doing really well,” Avs coach Patrick Roy said of Johnson. “When is he going to be back? I would say his return is pretty close.”

Before his surgery, Johnson was expected to miss 3-8 weeks. He last played Jan. 21, which was eight weeks ago Wednesday.

The Avs are carrying only six defensemen — the traditional minimum to field a lineup — and seem to be banking on Johnson’s return.

After Friday’s game at Anaheim, the Avs will return to Denver, take Saturday off and practice Sunday before departing for Canada.

Colorado hasn’t played since beating Calgary 3-2 on Saturday night, and now goes into another back-to-back situation on the road.

“Whoever the people are that’s making the schedule, I’m not jealous of their jobs. Or if it’s a computer program or whatever,” Avs captain Gabe Landeskog said after practice Wednesday at Gila River Arena. “It’s not easy to work with 30 teams and fit in different demands, schedules, arena availabilities and all that. Some years you’re going to have a great schedule and some years you’re going to have tougher schedules with a lot of back-to-backs on the road.”

Landeskog doesn’t mind having a four-day break before the final 13-game leg of the season.

“I definitely think a break like this is good physically and mentally, especially going down the stretch here,” he said.

Johnson is among eight injured Avs, and only forward Joey Hishon is set to make a quicker return. Hishon has missed four games recently with neck and elbow ailments, but practiced Wednesday and might play against the Coyotes.

Forwards Patrick Bordeleau (knee), Nathan MacKinnon (foot), Jamie McGinn (back), Borna Rendulic (leg), Jesse Winchester (head) and defenseman Ryan Wilson (shoulder) are out indefinitely.

Mike Chambers: mchambers@denverpost.com or twitter.com/mikechambers

COLORADO AT ARIZONA



8 p.m. Thursday, ALT2; 94.1 FM

Spotlight on Michael Stone: The Coyotes’ young player is one of two NHL defensemen with 150 blocked shots and 150 hits. He blocked eight shots Monday at Los Angeles, tying his club record. Stone, 24, was a third-round pick of the Coyotes in the 2008 draft. His younger brother, Mark Stone, is a forward with the Ottawa Senators. They grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

NOTEBOOK

Avalanche: Semyon Varlamov will start in goal. The Avs have only 21 available players, and Joey Hishon or Freddie Hamilton will be the only scratch. Hishon is questionable with a elbow injury. … Colorado is 8-3 in its past 11 games and 10-4 in its past 14. … The Avs traveled to Arizona on Tuesday and held a full practice at the Gila River Arena on Wednesday. … Colorado is 2-0 against Arizona this season, winning 4-3 in overtime in Glendale, Ariz., and 5-2 in Denver.

Coyotes: They are 11-5-4 against Colorado under coach Dave Tippett, who is the NHL’s third-winningest coach since 2002 (485), trailing Mike Babcock (522) and Joel Quenneville (511). … Their penalty -killing (76.3 percent) ranks 29th in the 30-team NHL, but their 20.6 percent power play (seventh) makes up for some of that. … Arizona is 1-8-1 in its past 10 games and 2-29-2 when trailing after two periods.

Mike Chambers, The Denver Post