Colorado Avalanche Want to Extend Winning Streak v Caps
The Colorado Avalanche hope to extend their winning streak to three with a victory against the Capitals in Washington.
The Colorado Avalanche have traveled to Washington to face the Capitals in Capital One Arena.
The Avalanche are coming in off a “gritty, greasy” win against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Capitals dropped a 3-1 loss against the New York Islanders.
The last time Colorado and Washington played, the Avs had a decisive 6-2 victory over the Caps. In fact, that game saw captain Gabriel Landeskog earn his first-ever NHL hat trick:
The Colorado Avalanche are one game above .500 with a 14-13-2 record. That puts them at 30 points, which is four out of a playoff spot. They have a modest two-game winning streak going. Washington is 18-12-1, which is good for the third seed in the Metropolitan Division. They’re 7-3-0 in their last 10.
How to Enjoy the Game
Game time: December 12 , 5:00 pm MT
TV Networks: Altitude TV (Avs feed), NBCSWA (Capsfeed)
Radio: Altitude Radio (AM 950)
Keys to the Game
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After the Colorado Avalanche beat the reigning Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins last night, the coach and hockey commentators were chalking in the win up to greasiness, grit, and hard work. Well, it certainly was that last one — hard work that lasted an entire 60 minutes. That’s right, Avs Nation, the Colorado Avalanche played a full 60-minute game, and it lead to their beating the Cup champs.
We’ve watched time and again the last few seasons as the Avs let up on the ropes, or came out flat, or mismanaged a lead. Well, this time they took the lead in the third period and never game it up.
Colorado needs to play a full 60 minutes tonight, too, especially since the Caps are going to be stinging after that loss to the Islanders.
Colorado is coming in to the second game of a back-to-back, and so are the Capitals. The Avs are flying in from Pittsburgh, and the Caps are flying in from New York. So, neither team should have an advantage when it comes to fatigue.
Injury Update
The Washington Capitals expect to be without forward T.J. Oshie for tonight’s game. He has missed three games now with an “upper body injury” that resulted from the following hit:
I think it’s safe to say the “upper body injury” is a concussion. I’d also like to say that was a [expletive] move by Joe Thornton. He ground his butt into Oshie’s head. Now, that may sound like it would be funny, but clearly between the overdeveloped gluteus maximus muscles and unforgiving boards was not a good place for Oshie’s head. Thornton should have pulled up.
Anyway, on the Avalanche front, rookie Alexander Kerfoot got injured by friendly fire:
He suffered that injury late in the first. He did play some in the second period, but he eventually left the game and didn’t return. I really hope he doesn’t have a broken toe. Anyway, at the time of writing there was no word on whether Kerfoot would play.
In any case, this is the second and final meeting of the Colorado Avalanche and Washington Capitals this season. This is also the final game of the Avalanche’s four-game road trip.