Semyon Varlamov starts in goal Saturday when the Avalanche face Dallas at the Pepsi Center to begin a four-game homestand.
The GAME NOTES.
Varlamov has been struggling big time since making 24 saves Dec. 2 in a 2-0 win in Detroit.
He’s allowed 14 goals on 73 shots, an .808 save percentage, covering parts of seven periods in his past three starts. He was pulled in his past two games, a 7-1 loss to Tampa Bay and a 6-4 loss to Edmonton (Philipp Grubauer was tagged with the loss against the Oilers).
Varlamov made 27 saves in Colorado’s 3-2 win against Dallas at the Pepsi Center on Nov. 24. He has a 14-6-2 career record against the Stars with a 2.89 goals-against average and .911 save percentage.
The Avalanche are coming off a 4-3 overtime loss Friday in St. Louis when Ryan O’Reilly scored a shorthanded goal on a breakaway against Grubauer after defenseman Tyson Barrie’s shot was blocked.
The Avalanche have lost three games in a row (0-2-1) and are 1-3-1 in the past five games after going 9-0-2 in the previous 11.
They are 2-for-17 on power plays in the past four games and have allowed a power-play or shorthanded goal in five consecutive games.
Mikko Rantanen had an assist Friday to stretch his point streak to 13 games. He has 24 points (six goals, 18 assists) in the streak and leads the NHL in scoring (53 points) and assists (40).
The lineup:
Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen Tyson Jost – J.T. Compher – Sven Andrighetto Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Matt Calvert A.J. Greer – Colin Wilson – Gabriel Bourque
Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson Ian Cole – Tyson Barrie Nikita Zadorov – Patrik Nemeth
Semyon Varlamov Philipp Grubauer