Wed. @ Blackhawks, Sat. vs Canucks
The patchwork Colorado Avalanche defense has held up well enough to keep the offense within striking distance. Against a motivated Edmonton Oilers team on Sunday night, the Avs’ D finally cracked, allowing four power play goals in a 3-5 loss. (This after operating the second-best penalty kill in the league going into that game.)
The cycle of injuries is partly to blame for that big defensive letdown in a game that should have been a relatively easy win. (See Injury Update below.) The offense did its part, scoring three goals against a team playing with the lead from the early-going. Really, the story of this team has often involved falling behind early only to come back and salvage at least one point from what would have been a total lost cause for the Avalanche of yesteryear.
And so this narrative has developed for Colorado; the Avalanche get hit in the mouth, they charge back as a brilliantly functional (and impressively deep) unit, and eventually hit a wall where willpower can carry no further. This has happened in single games, and it has happened over multi-week spans involving entire road series.
The story goes on to tell of a team that plays its best hockey after losing multiple games in a row, and over the course of a long regular season defined by incredible parody through the top half of the league… well, that’s a recipe for success.
Wed, Nov 11th @ Chicago Blackhawks (6:30 MST)
Last Friday’s game in Colorado saw the Avalanche fall behind early and come back to win in an epic shootout that featured eight shooters a side. Colorado goaltender Craig Anderson returned from a night off to play poorly early, better late, and out-of-his-mind good through the final minutes of regulation and the shootout.
The Avalanche have managed to cull three points (a SO loss away & a SO win at home) out of two games against the Blackhawks.  After last night’s embarrassing loss to Edmonton at home, Colorado will give Chicago a run for its money again. While a win is doubtful, I can see this game becoming another extra-inning thriller. I’ll stick with the unexpected trend (a result of three early-season matchups between these two teams,) and bet on another shootout loss in Chicago.
PREDICTION:Â AVALANCHE 3, BLACKHAWKS 4 (SO)
Sat, Nov 14th vs Vancouver Canucks (8:00 MST)
Our lasting meeting with the ‘Nucks was a brutal 0-3 loss at Vancouver, preceded by a 3-0 blowout win in Colorado the first week of the season. Hockey is such a give-and-take game that the ebb and flow of a given matchup can bleed over multiple games, especially where divisional rivals are concerned. While the consistent three-goals-to-none trend probably won’t hold up, I will pick the Avalanche to win and to score by the bucket load after logging consecutive losses for only the third time this season.
PREDICTION:Â AVALANCHE 5, CANUCKS 2
WEEK 7 PREDICTION: Â 1-0-1
**Bonus Coverage**
Peter Forsberg did take the ice for Team Sweden in the Karjala Cup, but did not score. In fact, his whole team failed to score in an 0-7 shellacking at the hands of Finland (runners up to Russia in the tournament.)
His presence on several shifts did grant flight to a handful of formerly flightless penguins, raising hopes of an unprecedented winged penguin migration from Chile to the Frozen Continent as the Antarctic summer begins. (See last week’s Avalanche Preview for details.)
Foppa is clearly not playing at an elite level yet, but has indicated that he is close to making a decision on whether to play professionally this season in either the NHL or the Russian Elite League the KHL. Read about that and his hopes that he will make the Swedish National Team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver in this Peter Forsberg Interview.
Injury Update
A big bonus is coming. The Avalanche have been playing with key defensive injuries throughout the season, and are looking at finally becoming whole over the next couple weeks.
D Tom Preissing has not suited up in a regular season game for Colorado yet, but he is expected to return from a rehab assignment with the Monsters of Lake Erie in the next couple games after having his knee scoped just prior to the opening of the regular season.
Preissing was the second half of an offseason trade that sent Ryan Smyth to Los Angeles and brought the hyper-effective D Kyle Quincey to the Avalanche. Preissing is a solid defender (while Quincey often mixes it up in the offensive zone,) and his veteran presence in the midst of a relatively young defensive core may be the lynchpin in a top-five defense the rest of this season.
Unfortunately, John-Michael Liles reinjured his shoulder against Chicago and did not play in Sunday’s game against Edmonton. Getting Liles healthy will be a determining factor for the Avalanche going forward. He is a good, quick defender, but more importantly is the key to both Colorado Power Play units.
Despite missing Liles, Colorado will have Darcy Tucker’s return to look forward to in coming games. Tucker has been working his way back into playing shape after a vicious concussion-inducing hit from behind by Carolina’s Tuomo Ruutu on 23 October. Darcy is an excellent defensive forward, and his return should help shore up the Avalanche penalty kill.
