Avalanche Vs. Senators: Colorado Wins Fifth In A Row, 6-5, In Overtime

Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Matt Duchene scored 2:36 into overtime to help the Colorado Avalanche take a 6-5 win over the Ottawa Senators at Pepsi Center.

In the extra session, Duchene got the puck from Tomas Fleischmann along the boards near mid-ice and flew into the Ottawa end. From the left circle, he let fly with a shot that beat Brian Elliott for the win.

Duchene scored twice while Brandon Yip, Ryan O'Reilly, T.J. Galiardi and Cody McLeod each had a goal for the Avalanche, who have won a season-high five straight. Craig Anderson stopped 24 shots in the win.

Milan Michalek, Daniel Alfredsson, Alex Kovalev, Matt Carkner and Erik Karlsson all lit the lamp for the Senators, who have dropped four of six. Elliot was tagged for six goals on 25 shots in the loss.

Avalanche Vs. Senators: Colorado Goes For Five Straight Victories

The Colorado Avalanche are finally back to their winning ways. After going four games without a victory, they have now reeled off four straight victories against playoff caliber opponents, with three of those games taking place on the road.

While the victories keep coming, so do the injuries. Forward Paul Stastny will not play tonight, as he is still recovering from being slammed headfirst into the boards on Wednesday night by Chicago's Bryan Bickell. This is expected to be a very minor injury. Milan Hejduk will also miss the game with a lingering groin injury.

Reinforcements are on the way, however, as T.J. Galiardi returns from his broken wrist. This injury has kept Galiardi out of action for the past six weeks, but he appears to be game ready and will take Stastny's place in the lineup as first line center.

Colorado's opponent tonight, the Ottawa Senators, find themselves a sub-.500 team with a lacking offense and question marks in goal. Starting goalie Brian Elliot has been average, but not spectacular, for an Ottawa team that doesn't have the offensive firepower to recover from mistakes. The Senators rank 25th in the NHL in goals scored, and only Daniel Alfredsson has more than 20 points on the season. Compare that to Colorado, who claims five separate players with 25 points or more.

Ottawa has scored exactly three goals in five of their last six games. Colorado is averaging over five goals scored their past six games, and lead the league in goals scored per game average.

The puck drops at 7pm MST.