Ottawa Senators center Matt Duchene had a late dinner with Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog on Thursday night and has rented a suite for family and friends for Friday’s game between the teams — Duchene’s first game back at the Pepsi Center since he was traded Nov. 5.
Following the Senators’ morning skate, Duchene — who played eight full seasons for Colorado beginning at age 18 — said his homecoming promises to be emotional.
“Everybody knows my story, in terms of what this franchise has meant to me since I was a kid,” he said. “It was definitely tough to leave, one of those things — what you want and what you need are two different things and sometimes you have to make tough decisions.