Mon, Jan 18th vs Edmonton Oilers (7:00 MST)
Oilers at Avalanche 01/18/10 (7pmMST)
It used to be that the Oilers coming to town was a sure-fire win for the ‘Lanche. In seasons past, I bought tickets to at least one Avs-Oilers contest in Denver based on the fact that I was assured the pleasure of a Colorado win. Not so much these days.
Towards the end of last season, I had the non-privilege of watching the Oilers skate into town and decimate the West-worst Avalanche. It wasn’t pretty, but whiskey made it watchable.
This season, the Avs lost 3-5 in their only hosting of Edmonton thus far. The game wasn’t actually that close, and the Avalanche looked very much like the defensively inept team that posted a franchise-worst record last season. Edmonton has really grown up from my mocking nickname “Colorado, Jr.â€Â They are the still ‘the other’ super-speedy team in the NW Division, but they are capable of matching the Avalanche stride-for-stride.
And so, I have to predict another home letdown game for the Avs. I don’t want to do it. We should beat the Oilers at our own game. But the 2010 ‘Lanche is cursed to pay the price for loose defense by dropping winnable games like this one, even following a super-solid victory over the formerly East-best Devils on Saturday.
PREDICTION:Â AVALANCHE 2, OILERS 4
The Post Script
Veteran Milan Hejduk will be out 2-4 weeks after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery.
Milan already missed a half-dozen games this year because of the injury, and this should have him back to form for the stretch. The Avalanche get so much production from their cadre of Lake Erie call-ups that they shouldn’t miss Hejduk too much on-ice. However, missing a veteran from the locker room and bench could prove damaging for a team already lacking the consistent poise necessary to compete at a high level in every game.
