The Colorado Avalanche have struggled since posting their
longest winning streak of the season, a trend they will try to reverse tonight
in the opener of a four-game homestand versus the Edmonton Oilers at Pepsi
Center.
The Avalanche have lost four of five since a six-game win streak, including a
5-3 setback in Nashville on Thursday. Matt Duchene, Cody McLeod and Justin
Mercier all scored in the loss, with Mercier netting his first career NHL goal
in his sixth game.
Craig Anderson allowed all five goals on 36 shots in defeat.
"We didn't work very hard, we didn't do the little things to get calls, to get
plays," said Avs defenseman Scott Hannan. "You got to play in the offensive
zone. We got caught in our own zone, we turned the puck over. We were sloppy
in a lot of areas."
Colorado hopes a return home can get it back on track. The Avalanche have won
five of their last seven at Pepsi Center, where they are 16-8-2 this year. The
club is sixth overall in the Western Conference and trails Vancouver by
two points for first place in the Northwest Division.
The Avs will host an Oilers club tonight that has lost eight straight on the
road, all in regulation. Edmonton lost the opener of a five-game road trip on
Thursday, falling 4-2 in Minnesota.
Mike Comrie, who has missed 30 games this year due to mononucleosis, scored
for the first time since November 8, while Marc Pouliot also scored. Jeff
Deslauriers, who was coming off a 33-save shutout of the Flyers on Wednesday,
made 32 saves.
Edmonton had won two straight since a 0-11-2 stretch and is just 7-16-2 on the
road this year.
"We thought we could get another win," Pouliot said. "Everybody was
disappointed."
The Oilers and Avalanche have split four meetings this year, with Colorado
posting a 6-0 victory in the most recent meeting in Denver on January 18.
Anderson made 24 saves in his third career shutout of the Oilers, improving to
4-3-0 with a tie and 2.61 goals-against average lifetime versus the Oilers.
Colorado also halted a three-game series home losing streak with the victory.
Deslauriers is 1-1-0 with a 5.01 GAA in his career against the Avalanche,
while recently recalled Bryan Pitton has yet to play in an NHL game.
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