NHL Preview: Avalanche Host Division-Leading Canucks

Vancouver Canucks at Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche are facing an uphill battle in the chase to catch Vancouver for top spot in the Northwest Division. A win tonight, however, would make the climb a little less daunting.

The Avs will catch Vancouver at a good time as the two tangle at the Pepsi Center in Denver this evening. The Canucks have been reeling a bit recently — after ripping off a streak of 18 straight games without a loss in regulation, Vancouver has lost two of three, three of five and has been shut out twice by the Rangers and Wild respectively.

The goals have not been coming for the Canucks recently, which explains the recent transactions made by GM Mike Gillis. The most notable one is the call-up of AHL sensation Sergei Shirokov from the Manitoba Moose. Shirokov was Manitoba’s lone representative at the AHL All-Star game and leads the team in goals and points, and is tied for the team lead in assists. Shirokov is a highly-skilled and offensively-gifted player that fared well in the KHL prior to coming to North America — he’ll likely skate on the second line with Ryan Kesler and Mikael Samuelsson. The third line will be comprised of Manny Malhotra, Raffi Torres and Jannik Hansen; Mason Raymond will drop to the fourth line and likely skate with Tanner Glass and Jeff Tambellini.

Speaking of line juggling, Colorado was forced to do some this weekend — not that they were complaining about it. The return of dynamic power forward Chris Stewart in Saturday’s 4-1 win over Minnesota forced head coach Joe Sacco to shake things up a bit. Stewart skated on the top line with Matt Duchene and Tomas Fleischmann while David Jones dropped to the second line alongside Paul Stastny and Milan Hedjuk. If you’re thinking “wow, that’s a fairly impressive top six”, you’re correct — each of those guys has at least 11 goals this year save Fleischmann, who has merely put up 20 points in 21 games since coming over from Washington in December.

Some roster notes to pass your way…

— Expect Craig Anderson to be between the pipes tonight for Colorado. Anderson made 32 saves Friday in a 4-1 win in Minnesota after sitting as Peter Budaj’s backup for the two previous games. The win was Anderson’s first in five decisions, since a Dec. 30 victory against Edmonton.

— Colorado C Ryan O’Reilly was hurt in Friday’s game in Minnesota, falling awkwardly into the boards. The Avalanche reported after the game that O’Reilly, who was hospitalized after being wheeled off the ice on a backboard, was able to move his arms and legs — it’s expected that he’ll miss “a couple of weeks” according to coach Joe Sacco, but won’t require surgery.

— Vancouver C Alex Bolduc’s bad luck with injuries continues. He is expected to miss four weeks after re-injuring his shoulder Friday in Washington. It’s the third time in two seasons Bolduc has separated his shoulder.