Ducks at Avalanche
It took a shootout against the league's best team to finally halt Anaheim's 11-game winning streak, but the Pacific Division-leading Ducks look to rebound when they visit the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night. Despite Monday's 2-1 shootout loss to the Washington Capitals, Anaheim is riding a 14-game point streak (12-0-2) - two shy of the longest in franchise history.
"It's stressful winning every game because you try so hard to keep that thing going. It fatigues you out," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau acknowledged after Monday's setback. The Ducks, who haven't lost in regulation since Feb. 8 at Pittsburgh, hold a one-point edge over Los Angeles atop the Pacific. Colorado has alternated wins and losses over its last seven games and is tied with Minnesota for the final wild card in the Western Conference, although the Wild have a game in hand. The Avalanche have won the last two meetings, including a 3-0 victory at Anaheim on Oct. 16.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, KCOP-13 (Anaheim), Altitude (Colorado)
ABOUT THE DUCKS (37-19-9): Anaheim has a bit of a goaltending dilemma that most teams would love to have entering the stretch run because, simply, both netminders - Frederik Andersen and John Gibson - are playing too well. Gibson took the loss despite making 31 saves against Washington, but he is 4-0-1 and has allowed nine goals over his last five starts while Andersen has won his last seven decisions and is 12-0-2 since the start of 2016. Captain Ryan Getzlaf scored for the fourth time in eight games to reach 10 goals, putting him in double digits for each of his 11 seasons.
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (34-30-4): Goaltender Semyon Varlamov took a seat for a pair of games after allowing 11 goals over three appearances, but Patrick Roy brought his starter back against Arizona on Monday night and was rewarded with a 37-save effort in a 3-1 victory. "He was really good. He looked like a No. 1 tonight," Roy said. "It was a good thing for him to rest and be ready for this one. Now he needs to be ready for the next one against the Ducks." Center Matt Duchene scored once and set up another tally against the Coyotes to establish a career best with 28 goals.
OVERTIME
1. Anaheim can match a franchise record with its seventh straight road win, a mark set in 2006-07.
2. Colorado has killed off 19 straight short-handed situations over the past six games.
3. The Ducks went 0-for-3 on the power play Monday, ending an 11-game streak with at least one man-advantage goal.