Senators at Avalanche
The Ottawa Senators continue their four-game road trip when they visit the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. After having its three-game point streak snapped at home by Tampa Bay on Sunday, Ottawa began its trek two days later with a second straight loss as it dropped a 2-1 shootout decision at Philadelphia. Mike Hoffman scored the lone goal for the Senators, his team-leading 13th of the season, as the club suffered its third loss in four road contests (1-2-1).
Colorado is coming off its third win in four road games, a 2-0 triumph at Chicago on Tuesday. Semyon Varlamov made a career-high 54 saves en route to his 16th career shutout and third this season while Nathan MacKinnon registered a goal and an assist as the Avalanche scored twice in the first 77 seconds of the contest and never looked back. Ottawa posted a 5-3 home victory over Colorado on Oct. 16, erasing a 3-1 deficit with four unanswered tallies.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, TSN5, RDS (Ottawa), Altitude (Colorado)
ABOUT THE SENATORS (16-15-8): Curtis Lazar is expected to be in the lineup Thursday after helping lead Team Canada to the gold medal at the World Junior Championship. The 19-year-old, who served as captain of the Canadian squad, has recorded a goal and six assists in 27 games with Ottawa this season, his first in the NHL. The Senators have lost five of their last seven overall contests (2-3-2) and scored a total of six goals in their last four on the road, with three coming in one game.
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (16-16-8): Varlamov's performance on Tuesday was one for the ages as he became the third goaltender in the expansion era to post a shutout of at least 54 saves and set the NHL record for most stops in a regular-season blanking on the road. The 26-year-old Russian's save total was the second-most in franchise history behind Ron Tugnutt's 70 at Boston on March 21, 1991, when the Avalanche were known as the Quebec Nordiques. "I'm so exhausted right now," Varlamov said after the contest. "I was cramping really bad at the end of the game, in the last minute."
OVERTIME
1. Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog has scored just one goal in his last 16 contests.
2. Hoffman has tallied in three of his last five games.
3. The Avalanche have won three straight home meetings with the Senators.