The Colorado Avalanche are desperate for a win as their recent struggles have pushed them from division leaders to the brink of playoff contention. The recent slide has been the result of a lack of offense, as both Matt Duchene and Tomas Fleischmann have cooled from their sparkling December. Defense and goaltending have kept them in games, but the team is simply not scoring enough goals. This could change in a hurry, as Buffalo has allowed 17 goals in their past four games.
The Buffalo Sabres have struggled through a disappointing season so far, and the news keeps getting worse. Goalie Ryan Miller, a Vezina Trophy winner a year ago, has fallen back to earth. Leading scorer Derek Roy has suffered a torn quad muscle and will undergo season ending surgery. After Roy, offense may be tough to find for Buffalo. Thomas Vanek and defenseman Jordan Leopold are the only other Sabres with more than 20 points on the season, now half over.
This is the only meeting between the two teams this season.
Colorado is 3-12-5 when they score three or less goals on the season.
Peter Budaj and Ryan Miller will get the starts in net.
Puck drops at 7:00 pm MST.