Avalanche at Coyotes
The Colorado Avalanche finally broke out of a rut with an impressive beat-down of the reigning Stanley Cup champions, but they have no room to relax heading into a two-game road trip against a pair of red-hot Western Conference opponents. Colorado will visit the surging Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday before taking on the Los Angeles Kings two nights later. The Coyotes have yet to lose in regulation at home while Los Angeles is riding a four-game winning streak.
Phoenix is in the midst of an 8-1-1 run that includes five victories beyond regulation and owns a stellar 9-0-1 home record. The Coyotes had won four consecutive meetings with Colorado prior to a shootout loss in their home finale last season. The Avalanche halted a three-game skid by routing Chicago 5-1 on Tuesday behind a 36-save performance by Semyon Varlamov, who learned earlier that day that his domestic abuse case was forwarded to the Denver District Attorney to be reviewed for possible charges.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, ALT (Denver), FSN Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (15-5-0): Colorado's five goals versus Chicago matched its total in its previous three games despite playing without leading scorer Matt Duchene (oblique), who was injured Saturday and will not accompany the team on the road trip. Defenseman Tyson Barrie, who was called up from Lake Erie of the American Hockey League on Sunday, made an immediate impression with two assists two days later. "Overall I thought he managed his game very well and I was very pleased with the way he played," said coach Patrick Roy, adding that Barrie was deserving of being named the game's third star.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (14-4-3): Phoenix, which has been idle since a 6-3 victory over visiting Tampa Bay on Saturday, is one of five teams in the West to eclipse 70 goals - but its plus-seven goal differential is the worst among the top seven teams in the tightly bunched conference. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s great to be up there," forward Radim Vrbata said. "But I think everybody in the dressing room knows we can be better. So maybe that’s a good thing.” Captain Shane Doan has scored eight goals in the past nine games, including five on the power play.
OVERTIME
1. Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog has seven goals and nine assists in his last 14 games.
2. Phoenix features a balanced attack with its top six scorers accumulating between 16-18 points.
3. Coyotes G Mike Smith ranks 30th in the league with a 2.87 goals-against average. Varlamov has a 2.19 GAA.