Avalanche at Rangers
The New York Rangers rebounded from what their assistant coach deemed an "embarrassing" effort by putting forth their best performance of the season. The Colorado Avalanche only can hope for a similar turnaround when they visit the Rangers on Thursday. "I think at some point, we've just got to get (ticked) off," Colorado's Matt Duchene told the Denver Post after the team suffered a 6-0 setback to the New York Islanders on Tuesday. "We're just deer in the headlights right now instead of just getting angry and making it happen."
While the Avalanche have dropped two straight and five of six overall (1-4-1), they have won 11 of their last 14 meetings with the Rangers. The reigning Eastern Conference champions rebounded from a listless 3-1 loss to Edmonton on Sunday with a 5-0 triumph over Pittsburgh two nights later. Rick Nash continued his torrid stretch by scoring a goal and setting up two others while Henrik Lundqvist finished with 33 saves for his franchise-record 53rd career shutout.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHLN, Altitude (Colorado), MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (4-8-5): Patrick Roy is known for his fiery temper, but the Colorado coach did his best to cool his jets following Tuesday's lackluster loss. "I want to be patient with our guys. It's a process," he said. "I know it's frustrating for everyone who would like to see the team winning, and right now it isn't happening." Rather than rant and rave, Roy elected to make some changes to his lineup - most notably inserting Daniel Briere back into the fold after serving seven games as a healthy scratch. Briere will be paired with Nathan MacKinnon and Jamie McGinn on Thursday, while John Mitchell will join captain Gabriel Landeskog and Jarome Iginla on another line.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (7-6-2): Defenseman Dan Boyle is expected to make his return to the ice Thursday after being sidelined with a broken hand since the season opener against St. Louis on Oct. 9. Signed to a two-year, $9 million contract on July 1, Boyle practiced without issue on Wednesday and participated on the team's top power-play unit. When asked if it would be better to ease Boyle back into the mix, coach Alain Vigneault responded, "I don't know if you've taken a look at the standings lately, but we're not in the playoffs."
OVERTIME
1. Rangers C Derick Brassard, who scored a power-play goal on Tuesday, collected a tally and an assist in his team's 5-1 victory over Colorado on Feb. 4.
2. Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov has been confirmed to be in net Thursday but has yielded 11 goals in his last two starts and is 0-3-1 in his last four.
3. Colorado is 0-for-18 on the power play in its last five contests.