The Colorado Avalanche will take on the Anaheim (Mighty-not lately) Ducks tonight at the Pepsi Center in game two of a back-to-back trip. Hot off a decent win against the up and coming Minnesota Wild, the Avalanche look to extend their first place lead over the Calgary Flames to six points before the holiday break.
Courtesy of avalanche.nhl.com
Craig Anderson gets the nod against the Ducks, his 33rd of the season (a career high). Nobody’s saying who the Ducks’ starter will be, but I’m willing to bet it’s Jonas Hiller, who has also been hot lately. In fact, Hiller has won his last 3 games, allowing only 5 goals in that span.
On top of this, the Ducks have won 8 of the last 9 meetings between the two teams (sound familiar?). The Avalanche are 5-1-1 in the first game of a back-to-back stretch and 3-2-1 in the second. But, if the Burgundy Boys can beat Minnesota at home, I think we can shoot down the Ducks.
Also, with a win tonight, Craig Anderson will beat Patrick Roy’s record of 18 wins before the holiday break, as he tied it last night. That would also make this Avs team the second in history to notch 50 points before the holidays.
Marek Svatos may make his return tonight, as he is rumored to be healing up nicely, but that would depend on the two replacements, Brandon Yip and Chris Durno, and how they’ve been playing lately. I’m a Svats fan so I say put him in coach.
Watch for some BIG penalty kills by the Boys tonight, as Anaheim is 23.5%(1st) on the Power Play (though only 2nd on the road at 27.6%). Colorado is 80% on the PK (16th) but only 74.2%(26th) at home.
Paul Stastny and Wojtek Wolski are tied for the team lead in points at 36. Stastny has 8 goals and 28 assists(the most on the team) while Wolski has 15 goals (team leading) and 21 assists. The most surprising, and apparently overlooked stat is that Kyle Quincy has a nice 19 points (3g, 16a). I say keep up the good work.
This should be quite the battle. Here is El Capitan Adam Foote talking about last night and some “strategery” for tonight’s game:
Related posts:
- Ducks Steal Life From Avs
- Avs vs. Ducks – Pregame *Updated*
- Avs vs. Jackets Game Notes
- Avs. vs. Wild – Round 5
- Avalanche Sweep Blue Jackets
Email Post | 
Print Post 
Loading ...