Colorado Avalanche Visit Dallas Stars
The Colorado Avalanche have headed down to the Lone Star State to face their divisional opponent Dallas Stars. It’s their second of five meetings. The Colorado Avalanche have already hosted the Dallas Stars twice, winning both times in regulation. Needless to say, they’d like to give winning in American Airlines Center a chance.
Storyline
Must-Win Situation
Game 50 was a must-win situation for the Colorado Avalanche. They were playing tired divisional foes, the Nashville Predators, in Pepsi Center. (The Predators had just played the night before in Arizona.) The Avalanche needed a home win to hopefully spark a winning streak. The Predators… were going to be tops in the Central Division either way.
Well, the Colorado Avalanche must win Game 51 against the Dallas Stars as well. The Stars are also divisional foes. Different from the Predators, though, they’re not going to be tired and playing at altitude in a visitor’s arena. Rather the Stars are well-rested, having not played since Saturday, and hosting the Avs in their home barn.
Oh, and the Stars keep leap-frogging with the Avalanche in the Wild Card standings. They are just as desperate for wins as the Avs.
Keys to the Game
Power to the Power Play
The Colorado Avalanche power play is so bad. They’ve gone 0 for 17 in power plays recently, which includes four attempts against the Predators in the last game.
Colorado is 29 out of 30 for the power play — only the lowly Buffalo Sabres are worse. Luckily Dallas is only 24th in the NHL for penalty killing. Still, the Avalanche need to find a way to score on the power play. Especially since the Stars seem to have sorted out their own power play woes, according to Blackout Dallas.
Shooting the puck might be a good start for the Avs.
Goal Tending Brilliance
By his own admission goalie Semyon Varlamov was not sharp in the away game against the Nashville Predators. Even head coach Patrick Roy remarked that Varlamov would like to have at least one of the four goals he allowed back.
By contrast, his performance at home against the Predators was razor sharp. He didn’t face a lot of shots, but he made some big saves. He credits a meeting with goalie coach Francois Allaire.
Varlamov is going to have to continue that kind of play. He has to maintain his laser focus. The Avalanche allow a lot of shots on net, and that’s not going to change with cornerstone defenseman Erik Johnson sidelined with a knee injury. And it’s definitely not going to change with shooters like Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn on the prowl.
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not
Not
Last preview I called Max Talbot “not hot,” and he went out and scored the first goal in the game. So, in the hopes of sparking a similar reaction, I’m going to call out offensive defenseman Tyson Barrie. He only has one assist in the last five games and only four goals all season. I think we were all hoping for a little more after he signed his lucrative contract this summer.
Hot
Dallas rookie defenseman John Kingberg is making waves. He scored two goals in the last game against the Winnipeg Jets. Kingberg also got named rookie of the month by the NHL because he led all rookies in scoring with five goals and eight assists. Again, this 22-year-old kid is a defenseman.
Avalanche veteran winger Jarome Iginla just scored his 1,200th NHL point with a goal against the Nashville Predators. He leads the team in goals and is second only to linemate Alex Tanguay in overall points. He has a point in each of his last three games.
The Colorado Avalanche flew to Dallas after practice yesterday. Veterans Iginla and Tanguay took maintenance days. Iginla is said to be nursing a bruise on his thigh, while Tanguay is recovering from a shock to his hand when he blocked a shot in the Predators game. The Avalanche have too many players on injured reserve to name, but the most noteworthy is defenseman Erik Johnson. He’ll be out at least two more weeks after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery.
The game begins at 6:30 pm MST and will be broadcast on Altitude Sports.