Sat, Feb 13th @ Los Angeles Kings (8:30 MST)
Colorado Avalanche vs Los Angeles Kings
A big win Friday night over the streaking Phoenix Coyotes kept the Avalanche on-pace with the Vancouver Canucks atop the Northwest Division.
Now Colorado will try to stretch their league-best win streak to five games against the Kings in Los Angeles. Both teams sit at 76 points on 60 games & 5th/6th in the Western Conference. The Avalanche & Kings have not yet met this year, so the winner will assume control of the four-game season series. Games 1 & 2 are in Los Angeles five weeks apart, Game 3 comes to Denver two days later, and the teams will reunite at Pepsi Center on April 11th for Game 4 on the last day of the regular season.
Adding to the plot line is an offseason trade between the two clubs. Denver sent the underproductive Ryan Smyth to Los Angeles in favor of the Kings’ Kyle Quincey.  Smyth has been productive for the Kings, and Quincey has been part of a defensive Renaissance in Colorado.  The two will surely meet more than once on the ice at Staples Center this evening.
The Kings have lost two games in a row for the first time since early January.  They racked up 37 & 43 shots while only scoring two goals each in losses to the Ducks & Oilers respectively. Los Angeles is too good on offense to keep down for long. Unless Craig Anderson stands on his head tonight, the Avalanche will likely bow to the Kings’ home ice advantage in the opening volley of this compact season series.
PREDICTION:Â AVALANCHE 3, KINGS 4
