Avs Talk - A Colorado Avalanche Blog

It's another do-or-die night for the Avalanche as they make their way into Phoenix for one of their remaing six games. Remaing six games of the regular season that is. With a win tonight, and a Flames loss, they're well on their way to catching Calgary again for the final playoff spot in the West. And who would have ever thought that would be possible a month ago?

According to a team spokesman, it will be Peter Budaj in net tonight. I thought it would be fairly obvious as to who would start but some folks still think there are goaltending issues. Budaj got rested for a game b/c Theodore looked like he could handle a start. He did and he did, and that's that. The backup gave the starter a rest and now the final push has begun. Theodore commented that he supports any goaltending decision that the organization makes. Hopefully fans do the same.

Although Phoenix is not fighting for a playoff spot, they are fighting to avoid the moniker of "worst team in the West". Luckily for them, Philadelphia has a stranglehold on "worst team in the NHL". They will have a tough time with what should be a determined Avalanche club who have gone 7-1-2 in their last 10 games. The Avalanche have also had a lot of success against the Coyotes, winning 8 of the last 9 encounters. Hopefully the Avalanche players don't get too cocky hearing that statistic.

Tonight I'm predicting Joe Sakic will get a goal to take sole possession of 9th in all-time scoring and 15th in all-time goal scoring in the NHL. As usual, if I'm wrong I'll amend this post so nobody is ever the wiser.

Injuries
Brisebois - back, IR
Leopold - wrist, IR (I think mid-March has come and gone)
Turgeon - calf, IR

Jovanovski - abdominal, IR
Ricci - neck, IR
Scatchard - consussion, IR
Fischer - abdominal, IR

Hot
Sakic has 13 in 7, Hejduk has 16 in 14, Mclean has 3 in 3.

Joseph is the only hot Coyote.

Cold
Stastny has 0 in 5, Klee has 1 in

Roenick, Nolan, Kapanen and Sjostrom have 0 in 3, Michalek has 0 in 7.

Goaltenders
Peter Budaj - 27-15-6, 2.73 GAA, .904 save pct
Curtis Joseph - 16-27-2, 3.12 GAA, .896 save pct

Standings
Colorado -39-30-7, 4th in NW, 9th in West
Phoenix - 29-42-5, 5th in Pacific, 14 in West