Avalanche at Capitals
The Colorado Avalanche began the month with four straight losses - the first three at home - before posting back-to-back wins at Florida and Pittsburgh. Colorado looks to conclude its four-game road trip with another victory when it visits the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.
Defenseman Mark Barberio and Blake Comeau scored in the third period while Jonathan Bernier made 39 saves in Monday's 2-1 triumph over the Penguins for the Avalanche, who have recorded a total of nine goals in their consecutive triumphs after producing seven during their month-opening slide. Extending their winning streak will be a tall order as Washington has been strong at home, winning four in a row and six of its last seven. The Capitals were not successful when they visited the New York Islanders on Monday, dropping a 3-1 decision for their fourth loss in five road games. Blue-liner Dmitry Orlov scored the lone goal for Washington while captain Alex Ovechkin was kept off the scoresheet, ending a four-game streak during which he collected eight points.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Altitude (Colorado), NBCSN Washington
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (14-13-2): Defenseman Erik Johnson was in the lineup Monday after exiting the win over the Panthers two nights earlier with a knee injury and logged a team-high 26 minutes, 51 seconds of ice time. Captain Gabriel Landeskog failed to record a point Monday, leaving him two shy of 300 for his career. The 25-year-old Swede, who has reached double digits in goals for the fifth straight season, is one tally behind Nathan MacKinnon (11) for the team lead.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (18-12-1): Nicklas Backstrom recorded five points in two games before being kept off the scoresheet Monday for just the third time in nine contests. The 30-year-old Swede has scored 193 goals in his career, tying him with Dave Christian for seventh place on the franchise list. T.J. Oshie (upper body), who is tied for second on the club with 10 goals - including a team-high seven on the power play - missed his third consecutive game Monday.
OVERTIME
1. Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov, who began his career with Washington, is expected to start against his former team.
2. Capitals LW Andre Burakovsky's next point will be the 100th of his career.
3. Colorado RW Nail Yakupov has missed three straight games due to an illness and is day-to-day.