Avs Look For Second Straight Win
The official game preview Colorado Avalanche vs Nashville Predators.Season series: This is the second of four meetings this year between Nashville and Colorado. The teams first played Oct. 4 in Denver, with the Avalanche getting a pair of goals from PA Parenteau in a 3-1 win at Pepsi Center to move to 2-0 on the season for the first time since 2009.
Big story: The Avalanche enters the game on its second six-game winning streak of the season. Its 12-1-0 start is the best in the franchise's 18 seasons in Colorado and matches the 1994-95 Quebec Nordiques for the top mark in the franchise's overall history.
In fact, this season's Avs are off to a faster start than Colorado's 1996 and 2001 teams that won the Stanley Cup.
''We're 12-1, and everyone in this locker room feels like we're not satisfied,'' rookie Nathan MacKinnon said. ''That's the exciting part, that we can get better. [Being] 12-1 is great, but 13-1 is even better.''
The Predators are making their third stop on a seven-game, 17-day road trip--the longest they've been away from Bridgestone Arena in franchise history. They've picked up three of a possible four points so far with a shootout loss to the Phoenix Coyotes and a win against the Los Angeles Kings.
TEAM SCOPE:
Predators: Nashville can thank David Legwand for rescuing it Saturday in L.A. after it blew a two-goal, third-period lead, two nights after losing a two-goal advantage. Legwand's second goal with 3:56 left helped Nashville to a 4-3 win against the Kings.
''David was trying to get to the net in this game, and he was more detailed,'' Nasvhille coach Barry Trotz said. ''His game is getting rewarded by working and paying the price. It was good to see him get a reward for some good hard work.''
It would behoove the Predators to score first Wednesday. The team's record when scoring the game's initial goal is 6-0-2.
Avalanche: Gabriel Landeskog's goal and assist led the Avalanche to yet another victory Saturday night when it defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 on the same night the franchise retired former defensive captain Adam Foote's sweater number. Jean-Sebastien Giguere contributed 29 saves and first-year coach Patrick Roy won in his first game coaching against his former team since becoming Colorado's coach.
"It's fun to see things working out here as well as they are," Roy said. "This game meant a lot to the guys, and it meant a lot to me."
Roy said in a post-practice news sesson Monday that his goalie rotation is set for Colorado's next three games, which will all come at home. Semyon Varlamov will start Wednesday against Nashville and Sunday night against Washington, his former team. Giguere will be in net Friday against Calgary.
Who's hot: Legwand has five points in his past two games and seven of his 12 points on the season have come in the past four. Patric Hornqvist's three assists against the Kings was a career-high … Giguere (0.75 goals-against average, .977 save percentage, two shutouts) is unbeaten (4-0) and compiled a shutout streak of 122 minutes and 33 seconds that ended Saturday. Varlamov's 7-1-0 October record gave him the highest winning percentage (.875) by an Avalanche/Nordiques goalie in October. Before allowing a third-period power-play goal Saturday, the Avalanche had a streak of 20 consecutive penalty kills, their longest since also killing 20 straight from March 14 to 24, 2012.
Injury report: Mike Fisher (lower body) and Matt Hendricks (upper body) are questionable for the Predators. Goalie Pekka Rinne (hip surgery) is on injured reserve … The Avalanche welcomes back Jamie McGinn (knee) after the left wing missed three games. Alex Tanguay (knee) is out for at least the next two weeks, but Andre Benoit (groin) is probable.
-- by NHL.com --
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06/11/2013 - 16:00
