Maybe better things are in store for the Avalanche in 2017, not that they can get much worse.
After losing 12 of 15 games in December -- all three wins came on the road -- the Avalanche take a three-game losing streak into Monday's game in Vancouver to open a two-game road trip.
Here are the GAME NOTES. The Avalanche's only point in the past 10 home games came in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Canucks on Nov. 26. Calvin Pickard, who will be in goal Monday, made 29 saves through regulation. Markus Granlund scored the only goal in the shootout.
Semyon Varlamov (groin injury) didn't make the trip.
The Canucks (17-18-3) have won three games in a row and trail Los Angeles by three points for the second wild card playoff spot in the West. They're 5-1-1 in their past seven at home.
The Avalanche (12-13-1)? They're a whopping 15 points behind the Kings.
Coach Jared Bednar is changing line combinations again, moving Matt Duchene back to center from left wing, where he played Saturday in Colorado's 6-2 trouncing by the New York Rangers. Duchene will center Mikko Rantanen and Jarome Iginla.
Nathan MacKinnon will center Gabriel Landeskog and Rene Bourque; Carl Soderberg will skate between Mikhail Grigorenko and Blake Comeau; and John Mitchell will center Andreas Martinsen and Cody McLeod or Joe Colborne.
"We have to start coming out playing as a brand new team," Landeskog said. "Decision making is something that you have to control, and that's something that we can control. Whether we look for that extra pass or try to put pucks at the net, whatever it might be, that's things that we have to do. When your team's not playing well and you're losing games, you start second-guessing your decisions and you start second-guessing yourself.
"We have to come together as a team. Going on the road will be a good thing for us. I've said it all along, we lose as a team and we win as a team. If you start getting away from that, you're in deep trouble. So we have to make sure that we stay together and talk about it and dig our way out of it."
The lineup:
FORWARDS Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Rene Bourque Mikko Rantanen -- Matt Duchene -- Jarome Iginla Mikhail Grigorenko -- Carl Soderberg -- Blake Comeau Andreas Martinsen -- John Mitchell - Cody McLeod/Joe Colborne
DEFENSE Francois Beauchemin -- Tyson Barrie Fedor Tyutin -- Nikita Zadorov Eric Gelinas -- Patrick Wiercioch
GOALIES Calvin Pickard Jeremy Smith