Senators at Avalanche
Captain Jason Spezza is expected to return to the lineup on Wednesday as the Ottawa Senators vie for their season-high fifth consecutive victory when they visit the Colorado Avalanche. A hip injury has made Spezza a spectator during the winning streak. "I've been out of the lineup before and we've won some games and I've been out and we've lost," Spezza said. "But when I've been out before, we were able to maintain it when I came back and I just hope to add to the group."
Clarke MacArthur scored 58 seconds into overtime on Saturday as Ottawa posted a 4-3 victory over Montreal to snap a four-game road skid. Colorado was attempting to increase its winning streak to four games before suffering a misstep in a 4-3 setback to Calgary on Monday. Top overall pick Nathan MacKinnon tallied twice for the second consecutive contest, but an ankle injury clouds his status for Wednesday's tilt.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, RSN East, TVA (Ottawa), Altitude (Colorado)
ABOUT THE SENATORS (19-18-7): After representing his home country in a pair of world championship tournaments, high-octane defenseman Erik Karlsson was named to Sweden's Olympic team on Tuesday. "Obviously very proud and something that I've been looking forward to for a long time," Karlsson said. "You know, ever since you were a kid, you've been dreaming about this day and it's going to be a great experience and hopefully be something good for us." Karlsson has collected 10 goals and 29 assists to put him in the thick of the scoring race among blue-liners.
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (26-12-4): Captain Gabriel Landeskog recorded an assist for the third straight contest and has scored three goals and set up five others during his seven-game point streak. Landeskog, who will join Karlsson on Team Sweden, collected a goal and an assist as Colorado cruised to victory in the last meeting between the teams - a 7-1 triumph on Oct. 13, 2011. Paul Stastny followed his two-assist performance versus San Jose on Saturday by scoring a goal and setting up two others against the Flames.
OVERTIME
1. Ottawa G Craig Anderson has yielded 12 goals en route to dropping both career contests against Colorado since being traded from the latter during the 2010-11 season.
2. Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov was named to Russia's Olympic team on Tuesday.
3. Colorado is 3-1-1 on its seven-game homestand, which comes to an end Friday against the New York Islanders.