Avs Talk - A Colorado Avalanche Blog

The trifecta of games between Calgary and Colorado will come to a close today. I'm sure both teams will be glad to see it end. Facing the same team 3 times in 6 days can get a bit frustrating as troubles from previous games don't have time to subside. If Colorado can pull out a win, it's another step towards clawing back into the playoff hunt. The hill gets steeper and steeper each game though so the chances of them slipping are pretty high at the moment.

Neither Wojtek Wolski nor David Moss are expected to be in the lineup tonight. Moss is still recovering from the hit by Vaananen on Saturday and likewise for Wolski from Conroy's hit. Given that those are both highly promising rookies on each team, the odds of someone looking to exact revenge is fairly high I'd say. Let's hope nobody acts like an idiot and causes any more injuries.

I'm taking a stab that Peter Budaj will start tonight. Sure, he gets lit up by the Flames but you can always pull him and see if the team can sneak out a win again. Angry sarcasm aside, if I was the coach, it would be a tough decision. Budaj has faltered but Theodore hasn't looked stellar himself. And since it is still a bit too early to call the season done, I'd likely go back to Budaj and keep a close eye on him. Mentally, he's just not there yet but give him another year or two and he should become more consistent.

If the Avalanche can pull out a win against the Flames and then against Minnesota on Thursday, they will keep their meager playoff hopes alive. And with a slew of divisional games coming up, they do still have a chance at climbing back into it. They need to get more consistent on the back end though both in terms of goaltending and defensive coverage. It seems the team can score on anyone (not many teams get 4 on Luongo) but they just can't back it up with adequate defensive coverage. Great defensive coverage would be better but I'd settle for adequate right now.

Injuries
Brisebois - back, LTI
Leopold - wrist, day-to-day
Wolski - head/shoulder, day-to-day
Turgeon - calf, IR

McCarty - hip, IR
Richie Regehr - concussion, IR

Hot
Sakic has 7 in 3, Brunette has 6 in 3, Hejduk has 8 in 5, Stastny has 9 in 7, Skrastins has 4 in 3.

Iginla has 7 in 3, Tanguay has 7 in 4, Huselius and Conroy have 5 in 3, Langkow has 4 in 3.

Cold
Arnason, Laperriere and Mclean have 1 in 4.

Amonte has 0 in 8, Friesen has 0 in 3

Goaltenders
Peter Budaj - 17-14-3, 2.78 GAA, .906 save pct
Miikka Kiprusoff - 29-17-7, 2.34 GAA, .920 save pct

Standings
Colorado - 28-27-4, 5th in NW, 10th in West
Calgary - 31-20-8, 2nd in NW, 7th in West