Hurricanes at Avalanche
The Carolina Hurricanes are among the league's worst teams on the road and face the dubious task of visiting a venue where they are winless for 17 years. Carolina makes the third stop on a five-game road trip Saturday when it faces the Colorado Avalanche, who are 9-0-1 against the Hurricanes since the franchise relocated from Hartford in 1997. Carolina has won only twice in 11 games away from home (2-7-2) and is coming off a 3-2 loss at Los Angeles on Thursday after winning at Dallas two nights earlier.
Colorado's chance for a three-game winning streak went by the boards in a 3-2 home loss to Washington on Thursday - its third consecutive one-goal decision. Avalanche coach Patrick Roy was satisfied with his team's latest performance after limiting the Capitals to only 23 shots, but Colorado is not getting any help from a power play that is 1-for-23 over the past eight games. The Avalanche also will be without leading goal scorer Alex Tanguay, who is sidelined with a facial fracture sustained in Thursday's game.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Carolina, Altitude (Colorado)
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (6-10-3): Former 40-goal scorer Alex Semin continues to be an albatross for Carolina and coach Bill Peters, who made the veteran forward a healthy scratch Thursday and had a long chat with him toward the end of Friday's practice. Saturday's game could mark the Carolina debut of rookie Andrej Nestrasil, who was claimed off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings, where he had a pair of assists in 13 games. “I said from Day One that I’d like to get bigger if we can, and he certainly fits that mold,” Hurricanes vice president and general manager Ron Francis said. “He’s definitely a top-nine guy with top-six potential.”
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (6-9-5): Tanguay has been among the biggest surprises for offensively challenged Colorado but he will be sidelined for an undetermined length of time after taking a slap shot from Alex Ovechkin off the right cheek. "He texted me last night after the game and said that he will try and come back as soon as possible," Roy said. "Knowing Tang, I know he has the success of the team at heart. He knows that he is an important player, and he will do whatever he can to come back as soon as possible." Rookie forward Dennis Everberg was also injured in Thursday's game, suffering a separated shoulder.
OVERTIME
1. Backup G Reto Berra will make his second straight start in place of an injured Semyon Varlamov.
2. Hurricanes captain Eric Staal has three goals and an assist in the first two games of the road trip.
3. Colorado recalled Fs Andrew Agozzino, Ben Street and Tomas Vincour from Lake Erie of the American Hockey League on Friday.