Flames at Avalanche
THE STORY: Playing at home has not been much of an advantage for the Colorado Avalanche of late. The Pepsi Center has been very kind to the Calgary Flames, however, as Colorado's Northwest Division rival has won five straight visits. The clubs meet again in the Mile High City on Sunday, with the Avalanche looking to improve upon their 1-4-0 home record this campaign. Colorado, which has lost four of five overall, has dropped 24 of its last 31 games on home ice dating to last season. The Flames have won each of their last six meetings with the Avalanche, outscoring Colorado by a 27-10 margin. The road team has captured seven of the last 10 matchups in the all-time series.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Rogers Sportsnet West (Calgary), Altitude (Colorado)
ABOUT THE FLAMES (5-6-1): General manager Jay Feaster is not happy with the way Calgary has performed this season and is ready to do anything that might help turn around the team's fortunes. "Every option that’s available and open is going to be explored," he said. "Obviously, my phone rings. When you’re sitting 14th in the Western Conference, everybody figures you’re desperate." Feaster also is not opposed to calling up youngsters from Abbotsford of the American Hockey League. "Maybe that’s what we need. Maybe we need to bring some of those guys in and let them run and see what they can do with it. That is an option."
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (7-5-1): Matt Duchene is coming off the best performance of his NHL career. Duchene registered his first hat trick in a 7-6 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars on Friday and added an assist for a career-high four points. Peter Mueller continues to progress from his head injury as he participated in full practice with the team Saturday. Mueller missed the entire 2010-11 season with a concussion and played in the first three contests this campaign but has sat out the last 10. The 23-year-old will not be in the lineup Sunday. "I'm still a little ways out, but everything is on the right track," he said. "I just have to get a couple more practices in me and get the conditioning up again."
OVERTIME:
1. Calgary captain Jarome Iginla has scored 33 goals against Colorado, his highest career total vs. any team.
2. Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff is riding a seven-game winning streak against the Avalanche.