Senators at Avalanche
Matt Duchene tries to continue his hot streak as the Colorado Avalanche attempt to cool off the visiting Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night. Duchene has notched a point in seven straight contests and boasts a franchise record-tying 10 goals in November, while Ottawa is riding a six-game run without a regulation loss (4-0-2).
Duchene scored Monday in a 4-1 victory over Winnipeg to tie Claude Lemieux (1995-96) for the most goals this month and has three games left to break it. The Avalanche snapped a three-game slide with the win and hope to build on the return of goalie Semyon Varlamov, who made 20 saves in the contest. Varlamov must be sharp against the Senators after they posted an impressive 7-4 victory Tuesday at red-hot Dallas to start a three-game road trip. Ottawa totaled 14 goals while winning three straight and right wing Bobby Ryan has built a nine-game point streak that included a goal in Dallas.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, RDS and TSN5 (Ottawa), Altitude (Colorado)
ABOUT THE SENATORS (11-5-5): Mike Hoffman scored twice in Tuesday’s victory to tie Ryan for the team lead in goals with eight while Mark Stone posted three points to snap a mini-slump. Erik Karlsson owns a team-high 23 points to remain one point behind Dallas’ John Klingberg for the league lead among defensemen after notching an assist Tuesday. Craig Anderson turned aside 33 shots in the most-recent win after recording two straight shutouts and is expected to make the start in Colorado.
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (8-12-1): Duchene managed a goal and an assist in the first 10 games of the season and has been a different player since Nov. 1 — posting 17 points. Duchene still trails Nathan MacKinnon (21 points) for the team lead while captain Gabriel Landeskog (15) has posted points in three straight contests. The Avalanche has been looking for consistent secondary scoring and Carl Soderberg may be stepping up after registering a goal and two assists in the last two games.
OVERTIME
1. The Avalanche has won eight of the last nine meetings after the teams split a pair last season.
2. Ottawa C Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored a pair of goals Tuesday, including his league-leading third shorthanded tally.
3. Colorado RW Jarome Iginla has gone six games without a goal and remains four shy of 600 in his career.