Colorado Avalanche vs Edmonton Oilers Sat, Feb 6th 8pm
Sat, Feb 6th vs Edmonton Oilers (8:00 MST) on Altitude 2
Oilers at Avalanche 02/06/10 (8pmMST)
In a perfect world, the Colorado Avalanche would get to play the Edmonton Oilers after every tough loss. Thursday’s 3-5 loss to the Nashville Predators cost the Avs precious points in a tight conference race, and handed the season series (primary playoff tiebreaker) to the Preds.
The Avalanche soundly failed to match the Predators’ raw intensity at Nashville. Tonight the ‘Lanche head back to Pepsi Center for Mike Ricci Alumni Night.
With the playoff picture coming into focus day-by-day, these are just the kind of games the Avalanche must win. The house should be relatively packed, and fans will be geared up for a big offensive performance from the young core of Avalanche forwards. If the Avalanche can’t capitalize on that kind of built-in energy against a bad defensive team like Edmonton, then they don’t deserve to be in the Western Conference playoff field come April.
Colorado coach Joe Sacco stirred up the Avs’ line arrangement for tonight’s game after a five-game offensive slump. T.J Galiardi, who has played with impressive speed and poise in recent weeks, will join Paul Stastny & Chris Stewart on the top line. Wojtek Wolski will drop down and play with Brandon Yip and Matty Duchene, a combination that stands to look as good as it sounds. The unpredictable Marek Svatos will likely play on a high-energy line that features Ryan O’Reilly & Cody McLeod.
PREDICTION: AVALANCHE 5, OILERS 3
