Avs vs. Jackets Game Notes

The Colorado Avalanche face off at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight in the fourth meeting between the two teams this season. There are a few things going on with the team that are interesting to take note of.

Courtesy of avalanche.nhl.com

First off, John-Michael Liles will be getting the start, likely filling in for Brett Clark this time, who Coach Joe Sacco proclaimed to be a game time decision. This is great for Liles who has been the subject of benchings and trade rumors of late (much like last season if I remember right). Liles has 9 points in his last 10 games and leads the team overall in power play points.

A bit of bad news about Matt Hendricks. In a morning interview, Coach Sacco noted that Hendricks’ ankle ailment has forced him to have a procedure done. This will keep him out until at least after the fast approaching Olympic break. Hendrick’s has been a great presence on and off the ice and hopefully will be back sooner than later.

Courtesy of avalanche.nhl.com

Marek Svatos will be returning to action tonight after sitting out with a chest injury suffered just moments after he returned from a groin injury. I’m a Svats fan, so here’s hoping to no more injuries for the rest of the season first of all. Also, this is exciting because Svatos is a player that needs minutes and someone to feed him passes and he hasn’t been getting much of either lately on the bottom lines.

Word on the street is that a line shakeup may occur, if practice is anything to take note of. The Avalanche themselves are reporting that Chris Stewart has been moved to the second line, centered by young ‘un Matt Duchene, and accompanied by Marek Svatos. I’m all kinds of excited to see what this line can do (RIP “9 Line” – although I’m sure it will be back). That means the top line will be Brandon Yip and Wojtek Wolski centered by Paul Stastny. The third line is Ryan O’Reilly centered combo of Cody McLeod and T.J. Galiardi.

I’m sure you can imagine who is on the fourth line, but in case you’re feeling rather daft, it would be an amalgamation of Chris Durno, David Koci, Darcy Tucker, and Justin Mercier. Granted this is what has been seen at practice…

While I have no idea whether it will be Craig Anderson or Peter Budaj getting the start tonight between the pipes, logic would point towards Boods giving Andy a rest. This means, you guessed it, that Andy will most likely get the start in a giant F-U to logic. On the other side of the ice, Mathieu Garon will get to try things out against the Burgundy and Blue.

Tidbits

Despite being on the (hopefully) tail end of a three game losing streak, the Avalanche and their fans don’t need to fret quite yet. The team hasn’t allowed a power play goal in their last 4 games. In fact, the Avalanche penalty kill is 97% successful in the last 8 games and 93% in the last 10. That is a big deal. So what if the Burgundy Boys haven’t notched a power play goal in their last 3 games (they’ve hardly scored anyway).

Currently sitting in 6th place in the Western Conference, Colorado is merely 4 points behind the flaming hot Vancouver Canucks, who happen to be on an 8 million game road trip until the Olympics are over. They will start to break at some point. The Avs are 3 points ahead of Nashville, in 7th, and 4 points ahead of Detroit (how the hell are they still in the race?!?).

I’m not saying this won’t be one hell of a scary ride to finish off the year, with a sudden break for the Olympics. But I still have faith that we can finish first in the Northwest Division with some work (and games in hand) and make a stretch run in the playoffs that could send a few teams reeling.

What do you think about tonight’s game against the Blue Jackets? How do you feel about the Avs current situation? Will we make the playoffs?

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