Capitals at Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche are running out of games in their pursuit of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference and the remaining schedule won't make their uphill task any easier. Colorado trails Minnesota by five points for the second wild-card spot with a game in hand as it prepares to host the NHL-best Washington Capitals on Friday night.
The five remaining games for the Avalanche will likely come against teams who have all made the postseason. Colorado, which has dropped three of its past four contests, actually may catch a break in playing the Capitals, who have already clinched the Presidents' Trophy and have nothing for which to play. Washington coach Barry Trotz acknowledged that motivation is an issue for his team following a 2-1 shootout loss at Philadelphia on Wednesday in what was a potential first-round playoff matchup. “The biggest difference in two teams is probably the desperation level on Philadelphia, and ours probably wasn’t as high,” Trotz said after the Capitals failed in their bid for a franchise-record 55th victory.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, CSN Washington, Altitude (Colorado)
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (54-16-6): Goaltender Braden Holtby leads the league by a wide margin with 46 victories and needs two more to match the NHL single-season record of 48 established by New Jersey's Martin Brodeur in 2006-07. "It’s kind of a thing for all of us, and we want to give him what he deserves," Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner said. "He’s played so good for us this season, that we want his name to go up in history and have that as his honor. But it’s a little feather in our cap as well.” Captain Alex Ovechkin is six shy of his third straight 50-goal season.
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (39-34-4): Colorado is hoping for a boost with the return of leading scorer Matt Duchene, who told the Denver Post he will play Friday after missing the past six games with a knee injury. "I feel good," said Duchene, who tops the team with 29 goals and 56 points. "I think I'm ready to go. I skated hard the last four days - five days actually now. ... I'm looking forward to it." The news is not as positive on second-leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon, who was not at practice Thursday and is expected to miss his sixth consecutive game with a knee injury.
OVERTIME
1. Holtby is 3-1-0 with a 2.50 goals-against average in four starts versus Colorado.
2. Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov is 2-1-0 with a 1.35 GAA versus Washington.
3. Washington trounced visiting Colorado 7-3 on Nov. 21 to extend its winning streak to three straight in the series.