Flames at Avalanche
Mired in their second straight sluggish start to begin a season, the Colorado Avalanche look to snap a five-game home losing skid when they welcome the Calgary Flames on Tuesday. Former Flame icon Jarome Iginla scored in Colorado's 4-3 setback to San Jose on Sunday, but the Avalanche fell victim to their sixth one-goal loss on the young season.
"We don't have the results to support what we are doing, and that's all that is missing right now," coach Patrick Roy said following the team's second straight loss and sixth in seven outings. "For 57 minutes, we were very solid. It's just a frustrating situation right now. We're doing a lot of good things right now, but we just can't get rewarded for it." While the Avalanche reside in the cellar of the ultra-competitive Central Division, Calgary received a rare ray of light in its last outing - courtesy of Michael Frolik's first career hat trick in Saturday's 5-4 win over rival Edmonton. The Flames have yet to string consecutive victories together in 2015-16 after providing the league's feel-good story with a 20-point jump in the standings last season.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, ALT (Colorado)
ABOUT THE FLAMES (3-8-1): Karri Ramo returned from his brief demotion to Stockton of the American Hockey League and turned aside 19 shots to defeat the Oilers. The 29-year-old Finn is expected to receive his second straight start to face the Avalanche, against whom he has won three of his last four meetings. Johnny Gaudreau leads the team with 11 assists, but mustered just one for his lone point in three encounters with Colorado during his rookie season.
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (3-7-1): Captain Gabriel Landeskog has recorded an assist in each of his last two games overall and has netted four of his team-leading five goals at home. Despite his solid play, Landeskog isn't thrilled seeing his team fritter away opportunities to move up in the standings. "At the end of the day, we don't come away with any points and that is what matters," the 22-year-old Swede said. "It's a business of winning, and you have to win or else you're not doing your job." Semyon Varlamov, who is expected to start on Tuesday, has dropped five of his last six decisions (1-4-1).
OVERTIME
1. Calgary LW Brandon Bollig recorded his first point with his first goal of the season on Saturday, but has yet to tally in 10 career meetings with Colorado.
2. The Avalanche had been 1-for-24 on the power play in a five-game stretch before converting two of their four opportunities on Sunday.
3. Flames RW Jiri Hudler has a team-leading four goals this season and tallied twice in his last meeting with the Colorado.