Duchene played through separated shoulder at World Cup

The World Cup of Hockey was a painful experience of sorts for Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene.

From Avalanche training camp Monday, Duchene told The Denver Post that he suffered a separated shoulder on Sept. 13, four days prior to Team Canada's round robin opener.

Duchene described the injury as a Grade 1 separation, which is a slight displacement of the AC joint.

"It’s one of those things, it doesn't get worse when you play with it," Duchene said. "It's just painful. It's going to linger for a bit, but it's feeling good. I just got bumped in practice. It was weird, it was a bad-luck injury. That was it.

"It didn't affect me all tournament. Obviously, the first time you go out, you're a little tentative on it, but after that, it's just fine. I feel good."

Coach Jared Bednar paired Duchene with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Bourque on Monday. Duchene, 25, scored 59 points in 76 games with the Avalanche last season.