Avalanche @ Canucks, Game 15 Preview

The Avalanche offense has been anemic mustering ten goals in their last seven games with including a miserly two goals in their last two games.

Robert Luongo hasn't been scored on since November 2nd and has posted three straight shutouts.

Will one of those give tonight?

With Joe Sakic out of the lineup, Tyler Arnason draws back in after being a healthy scratch against the Nashville Predators.

Will Arnason respond to coach Granato's challenge?

Peter Budaj gets the start in goal and is coming off a shutout of his own. He looked calm, cool and collected in net against the Preds and is looking to build on that performance.

Will this be the night that Peter Budaj turns the corner and proves his detractors wrong?

The game starts at 10:00 ET, 8:00 MT on TSN (Canada) and Altitude (USA) which means the game doesn't start until 9:00 for me.

Will I be able to battle off the flu and stay up for the whole game?

Sidenote: Though I told Alanah the shutout streak would end before the 10:00 mark of the first period, I don't actually believe it will happen that soon. Ssshhh. Don't tell her.

I actually have a bet with a 'Nucks fan at the office that it will end before the 5:00 mark of the second period. And though he thinks the streak will end tonight, he thinks it won't be until 3:10 of the third period.

So I decided to toss up a quick poll to get a general consensus on when the streak will end. If you want to get more specific, leave a comment. I believe they're working for everybody again.

If not, feel free to contact me at thebatlab {at} gmail dot com.



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Avalanche Injury News - Dec 15

Not sure how I missed that while checking the online papers this morning but Dater has a comprehensive injury update in his All Things Avs blog.

Of all the news, Sauer and Richardson are likely the worst. Sauer has concussion symptoms, not just a neck injury as previously reported, and Brad Richardson could have a serious shoulder injury.

Tyler Arnason has a possible broken wrist which was being evaluated last night. We should hear more from the announcers during the game.

Joe Sakic did not skate this week and I'm starting to get a little tired of the team downplaying his injury. If he's hurt, just say he's hurt and don't sugarcoat it. I guess they could be doing a worse job with injury disclosure though.