Hurricanes at Avalanche
While the Carolina Hurricanes are not mathematically eliminated from postseason contention, they have played themselves into a deep hole during a disastrous seven-week stretch. The Hurricanes are in 14th place in the Eastern Conference and nine points out of the second wild card entering Tuesday's matchup at the Colorado Avalanche.
Prior to Sunday's 2-1 victory at Arizona on Sunday in back leg of a home-and-home, Carolina lost 14 of 18 (4-11-3) dating to mid-January. The Mile High City has not been accommodating to the Hurricanes, who were winless in 12 consecutive games in Colorado (10 losses, two ties) before ending the drought with a 1-0 overtime victory in their last visit in October 2015. Offense has been a problem for both teams, with Carolina mustering 17 goals in its last 11 games (2-6-3) and the league-worst Avalanche scoring twice during their current four-game skid. "Obviously, scoring isn’t coming in bunches right now, so we need to make sure we play tight defensively," Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog said after Sunday's 3-0 loss to St. Louis in the opening of a four-game homestand.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Carolina, Altitude (Colorado)
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (26-26-10): Goaltender Eddie Lack drew the ire of Bill Peters for his performance in a 4-3 loss at Tampa Bay on Wednesday, but he bounced back with a 25-save performance in Sunday's victory at Arizona following a sit-down with his coach. "We had a great talk and a great walk from the cars to the plane," Peters said. "I have a lot respect for his game, a lot of respect for him as a player." Teuvo Teravainen scored at Arizona to end a 10-game goal drought.
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (17-44-3): Matt Duchene's name was bandied about leading up to the trade deadline but, like his team, he is mired in an ugly offensive malaise. A 30-goal scorer in 2015-16, the former No. 3 overall draft pick has tallied only once in his last 21 games and has 16 goals and 36 points. “It’s painful. There’s no other way to describe it. It’s not fun,” Duchene said after Colorado's latest setback. “Again, we couldn’t find the back of the net.”
OVERTIME
1. Avalanche C Nathan McKinnon also is stuck in a rut, failing to score a goal in 15 straight games.
2. The Hurricanes have the fewest road wins (eight) in the league.
3. Colorado is 0-for-23 on the power play in its last 10 games.