The Avs had a two day break after Saturday's game and are back in action against the Blue Jackets. The Jackets also haven't played since Saturday when they took care of the Oilers by a final score of 4-0. Maybe Hitch has his new team motivated a bit. Or maybe they beat up on a depleted Oilers team. Either way, I'm sure it gave a bit of confidence to the worst team in the league.
I fully expect the Avs to come out firing and take this game and move themselves back into a playoff position by leap-frogging Vancouver. It's time to take advantage of a weakened Oiler team and struggling Minnesota club in this tight division. .500 hockey is good enough to keep you hovering around a playoff spot until late season, but it certainly isn't going to get you in a playoff spot.
Peter Budaj gets the call in net tonight as Theodore takes a precautionary day off to rest his hip. Budaj blanked the Jackets 3-0 nothing the last time he played them. Theodore will likely get the call against the Sharks and Kings. Unless of course Budaj gets a shutout, in which case the MO is to leave him in net for the next game and ride the snot out of him.
The healthy scratch on D has not been announced yet but I'm going to take a stab at it being Vaananen. Although he's picked up his play recently, I don't think they'll sit Brisebois two games in a row and I don't see them sitting Klee just yet. I think a trade will come before the game against the Sharks on Thursday and solve this difficulty once and for all.
Injuries
The Avs are still without Brad May and Pierre Turgeon. Columbus is missing Zherdev, Modin, Westcott and Berard. Both Zherdev and Modin are day-to-day so they could be in the lineup tonight.
Streaks
The Avs have quite a few offensive streaks going. Liles has 4 pts in the last 2, Stastny has 6 in the last 4, and Arnason, Svatos, and Klee have 3 in the last 2. Sakic has 13 in the last 13 but that's not a streak, that's just Joe.
For Columbus, Anson Carter has a awoken a bit lately with 5 pts in his last 4 games. Dan Fritsche has 3 in 2 and Frederick Norrena has a 1.50 GAA and .930 save % in his last 2.
On the downside, Andrew Brunette only has one point in his last 5 and Lappy and Laaksonen are goose egged in the last 4 and 7 games respectively.
Columbus has many of those goose eggs going on with Fedorov, Nash, Vyborny and Malhotra empty over the last 3,4,5, and 9 games respectively.
Goaltenders
Peter Budaj - 1-2-0, 3.79, .863 in his last 3 - 2.5 GAA and .912 % on the season
Frederik Norrena - 2-0-0, 1.50, .930 in his last 2 - 2.4 GAA and .905 on the season
Standings
Colorado - 26 pts - 5th in NW - 10th in Conference
Columbus - 16pts - 5th in Central - 15th in Conference
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Pre-game vs Columbus - Dec 5, 2006
Posted by Shane Giroux at 12:03 PM
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