Avalanche at Senators
The Colorado Avalanche went from worst in the West to first in their division last season, but they have reverted back to worst in the conference - at least when it comes to offense. Colorado looks to snap out of a slump that has produced four goals in four contests when it continues a four-game road trip at the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night. The Avalanche have not lost to the Senators since December 2005, winning seven consecutive meetings - including a two-game sweep last season.
Ottawa finally gets to play at home after playing three straight one-goal games on the road, rebounding from a season-opening loss at Nashville by beating Tampa Bay in a shootout and posting a 1-0 victory over Florida on Monday night. "It feels really good to win 2-of-3," said goaltender Craig Anderson, who registered his 27th career shutout with a 30-save performance. "Coming out with 4-of-6 (points), we're feeling pretty good about our game. We have to continue to get better."
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Altitude (Colorado), RDS2 (Ottawa)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (1-2-1): Colorado was blanked by Minnesota in its first two games and its only win came on a goal by Daniel Briere with less than a second left at Boston on Monday afternoon. Jarome Iginla, who failed to hit the scoresheet in the first three games, collected his first two points with a pair of assists in Tuesday's 3-2 overtime loss at Toronto, but reigning Calder Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon had just one assist following his 63-point rookie campaign. “Four games in, I have 70-some games left. I’ll be OK," MacKinnon said. "Obviously, not the best start offensively ... but I feel like I’m playing decent.”
ABOUT THE SENATORS (2-1-0): Anderson and backup Robin Lehner have combined to permit five tallies after they had a goals-against average of at least 3.00 last season, a big reason why the club missed the playoffs and went a pedestrian 18-17-6 at home. "This is how we have to play to be successful," Ottawa coach Paul MacLean said of the opening three-game trek. "We did a lot of good things. The biggest thing is we gained some momentum on the road." David Legwand, signed to a two-year deal in the offseason, is off to a slow start with Ottawa. He has failed to register a point and notched only one shot on goal.
OVERTIME
1. The Avalanche are 0-for-13 on the power play but have killed 15-of-16 penalties.
2. Anderson, who played 1 1/2 seasons for Colorado, has not had much success against his former club, going 0-2-0 and giving up 16 goals in three starts.
3. Colorado G Semyon Varlamov is 0-2-1 and has faced 111 shots in his first three starts.