Avalanche at Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks seek their fourth consecutive victory as they continue their three-game homestand Thursday against the Colorado Avalanche. Vancouver opened its string at Rogers Arena with a 5-2 triumph over Winnipeg on Tuesday as Radim Vrbata scored two goals and set up another while captain Henrik Sedin recorded a tally and two assists. It was the fifth win in six overall contests for the Canucks, who are three points ahead of Calgary for second place in the Pacific Division.
Colorado's slim playoff hopes got even slimmer Wednesday as they rallied from a three-goal deficit before dropping a 4-3 decision at Edmonton. Ryan O'Reilly collected a tally and two assists while Alex Tanguay notched one of each for the Avalanche, who remained 10 points behind Winnipeg for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference with nine games left. The Avalanche and Canucks split the first two contests of their three-game season series - both at the Pepsi Center - with Colorado posting a 7-3 victory on Oct. 24 and Vancouver skating to a 5-2 triumph 11 days later.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, Altitude (Colorado), RSN Pacific (Vancouver)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (33-28-12): Semyon Varlamov is likely to make his second start in two days, considering his first lasted just over 9 1/2 minutes. The 26-year-old Russian received the early hook after surrendering three goals on only seven shots. "That was just changing the momentum of the game, and sometimes it's the best way to do it," coach Patrick Roy said. "Sometimes just a goalie change could help the team. ... Varly has been dominant all year."
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (43-26-4): Despite its recent surge, Vancouver has been unable to create breathing room as it attempts to secure second place in the Pacific. That fact is not lost on Kevin Bieksa, who realizes the club must continue to win in order to cement a spot in the postseason. "We're 5-1-0 in our last six and we haven't really pulled away from anyone, other teams are staying right with us," the defenseman said. "It's tough to get that separation. You can't take a couple games off."
OVERTIME
1. O'Reilly is riding a five-game point streak during which he has collected four goals and five assists.
2. Vancouver assigned D Adam Clendening to Utica of the American Hockey League.
3. Tanguay passed Paul Stastny for eighth place on the franchise list with 460 points and needs five to move ahead of Dale Hunter for seventh.