After their dramatic comeback win against the New York Islanders on Thursday night, the Colorado Avalanche look to keep momentum in their favor at home as they face off against a very familiar foe; the Calgary Flames.
This is the third matchup between these two clubs in the past two weeks, and Calgary has won both previous games. The Avalanche are still looking for their first divisional victory of the season, having lost all three games this season against Northwest Division opponents. This continues a trend from last season, when Colorado went 7-16-1 against the Northwest en route to the second worst record in the NHL.
Calgary has been struggling this season against non-Avalanche opponents. They have scored one or fewer goals in four of six November games and have the league's second worst offense at 2.07 goals scored per game. Rene Bourque leads the team with five goals, yet has no assists on the season. Only four players on the entire roster have scored more than six points this season, a big warning sign for a team that has already played 15 games.
By comparison, the Avalanche have 10 players with more than six points this year -- including three defensemen. Kyle Quincey is tied for the team lead with 12 points. Though their home offense has been lacking this season, Colorado has to be optimistic about their offensive performance against the Islanders. They scored four goals on 53 shots (the highest number for the franchise since 2002) and could have easily scored two or three more if not for an absolutely brilliant performance by Islanders goalie Al Montoya.
Semyon Varlamov will start in net for Colorado in his first start since being pulled during the second period of Tuesday's game against the Detroit Red Wings. He was the losing goalie in Sunday's 2-1 loss against the Flames.
Puck drops at 8:00 p.m. MDT at Pepsi Center
For more coverage, visit our Avalanche blog Mile High Hockey and our Flames blog Matchsticks and Gasoline.