The Avalanche aren't exactly kings of the road, but their 8-9-0 record away from the Pepsi Center gives them hope against Dallas at the American Airlines Center on Thursday.
The Avalanche (12-21-1), who have lost nine consecutive home games, have lost six of their past seven games overall while being outscored 26-10; they've been outscored 62-31 during a 3-12-1 stretch since Nov. 23.
Here are the GAME NOTES.
"I don't think it's as much Xs and Os as it is a commitment to compete, the second and third efforts, doing the little things that keep the puck out of your net or keeps them from creating scoring chances," Blake Comeau told me before the team left for Dallas on Wednesday. "I think that's the biggest thing right now. It's a matter of everyone upping their compete level and just being a harder team to play against.
"Obviously everyone wants to win and everyone is trying, but we're last in the NHL, so everyone's got to find a little bit more. Not everybody is going to be a physical player, but you can still compete hard and be hard to play against."
The Avalanche are averaging a league-worst 2.1 goals per game and have been shut out seven times. They're also giving up a league-worst 3.3 goals per game; they've allowed four or more goals 14 times.
The power play? After going 0-for-6 Tuesday in a 6-3 loss to Calgary, and failing on another 5-on-3, the Avalanche are 1-for-30 in the past seven games.
"If we're struggling to score, we can control not giving up chances and keeping the puck out of our net," Comeau said. "We have to be committed to playing good defensive hockey.
"I think sometimes when you lose and you go through funks like this, your confidence gets lost along the way. It's a cliché, but it's about going back to basics and making it simple. When you're not scoring, you tend to look for a better shooting angle or look for a pass rather than a shot.
"There's still over half the season left. Every day's a new day. We can't mope around and feel sorry for ourselves and wait for things to turn around, we're the ones who have to make things happen."
*****
Calvin Pickard will make his third consecutive start as Semyon Varlamov, who didn't make the one-game trip, recovers from a groin injury. Joe Colborne and Cody Goloubef are healthy scratches.
The lineup:
FORWARDS Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen Mikhail Grigorenko -- Matt Duchene -- Rene Bourque Blake Comeau -- Carl Soderberg -- Jarome Iginla Cody McLeod -- John Mitchell - Andreas Martinsen
DEFENSE Fedor Tyutin -- Tyson Barrie Francois Beauchemin -- Nikita Zadorov Patrick Wiercioch - Eric Gelinas
GOALIES Calvin Pickard Jeremy Smith