Avs Talk - A Colorado Avalanche Blog

It's time for the Avalanche and Sharks to clash for the third time this season. They've split the last two with the visiting team coming up with the win both times. The Colorado Avalanche are that visiting team tonight so let's hope the tradition holds true. The Avs are coming off of a 3-2 SO win over Anaheim while the Sharks have won their last two games against Phoenix and L.A.

If it wasn't for some heroics from Peter Budaj against Anaheim, the Avs might well have walked away with 0 points. They were outshot 40 to 17 and were likely outchanced by a 4-to-1 margin. Budaj looked calm, cool, and collected as he made some great saves on many 2-on-1 opportunities. Although he has started 8 straight games, I'd look for him to continue that streak tonight.

I'm not sure who is getting the start for San Jose. They were on rotation with Nabokov and Toskala where each would get 2 starts in a row if I remember correctly. However their last 4 games have gone: Nabokov, Toskala, Nabokov, Toskala. So they might be down to a 1 game rotation which would see Nabokov in net tonight. That could be beneficial as Nabokov is in a bit of a slump whereas Toskala is on fire. That being said, the last time these teams played, Toskala was o fire and the Avs lit him up for 5 goals.

This is the first game played after the announcement of the All-Star and YoungStart rosters. Joe Sakic ended up being the only Avalanche player in the All-Star game however Peter Budaj and Wojtek Wolski were able to find a spot in the Young-Stars game. Many people felt that Paul Stastny should have gone as well and I'd be inclined to agree but the roster is what it is. the odds are he'll make it next year if he keeps improving his play. I think he's really just not flashy enough to catch people's eyes. Having his father's name attached to him might not be a good thing either as it almost overshadows his solid play.

The game tonight is on Versus which, if it's not blacked out, I will be watching at my boss' place. So the length of my post-game will likely make up for the brevity of my pre-game. The post-game is where all fun happens anyways!

Injuries
Leopold - groin, IR
Liles - foot, IR
Brisebois - back, day-to-day

Parker - leg, IR
Vlasic - upper body, day-to-day

Hot
Sakic and Brunette have 3 in 2, Stastny has 12 in 11, Wolski has 11 in 10, Hejduk has 5 in 6.

Thornton has 13 in 6, Marleau has 11 in 6, Clowe has 4 in 2, Cheechoo has 9 in 6.

Cold
Laperriere has 0 in 15, Svatos has 1 in 5, Mclean has 0 in 4.

Smith has 0 in 6, Grier and Brown have 0 in 4.

Goaltenders
Peter Budaj - 13-9-2, 2.56 GAA, .908 save pct
Evgeni Nabokov - 11-9-0. 2.40 GAA, .913 save pct

Standings
Colorado - 22-19-3, 4th in NW, 9th in West
San Jose - 30-15-0, 2nd in Pacific, 5th in West