The Avalanche have quite a challenge Wednesday, facing the white-hot Philadelphia Flyers at the Pepsi Center.
Here are the GAME NOTES.
The Flyers (18-10-3) are riding a nine-game winning streak, the fourth longest in franchise history, and have outscored teams 32-19 in the run.
Goalie Steve Mason has won seven in a row with a 2.23 goals-against average and .930 save percentage in his streak. He allowed two goals or fewer in six of those games.
"It's an opportunity for us to kind of make a statement," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said after the morning skate. "We haven't played that well in front of our fans here at home and we're playing the hottest team in the league. We have something to prove, and that's the way we need to approach it."
The Avalanche went 0-4-1 on their last homestand and are coming off a 2-2-0 road trip. They're a dreadful 4-8-1 at home this season.
"(The Pepsi Center) should be a place where other teams don’t want to play," said Matt Duchene, who has scored all 10 of his goals on the road. "There is such a thing as home-ice advantage. We haven’t really found it yet this year.…
Calvin Pickard will be in goal as Semyon Varlamov recovers from a groin injury. Spencer Martin, recalled from San Antonio, will be the backup.
Carl Soderberg will play after missing practice Tuesday with an illness. Joe Colborne (lower-body injury) won't be in the lineup. He didn't practice Tuesday or skate Wednesday.
Right wing Jarome Iginla needs one point for 1,281 in his career to tie Alex Delvecchio for 34th place all time.
As for the Flyers, here's captain Claude Giroux:
"I think it's about believing in how you play, how your system's going. We just believe that we can win every game. You need to be on every game; if you're not on one night, it's not going to be pretty. We're believing in how we play, we're not changing our game whatever the score is or however the game is going. We're sticking to our game plan."
The Avalanche lineup:
FORWARDS Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Rene Bourque Mikhail Grigorenko -- Matt Duchene -- Mikko Rantanen Blake Comeau -- John Mitchell -- Jarome Iginla Cody McLeod -- Carl Soderberg -- Andreas Martinsen
DEFENSE Fedor Tyutin -- Tyson Barrie Francois Beauchemin -- Eric Gelinas Nikita Zadorov -- Patrick Wiercioch
GOALIES Calvin Pickard Spencer Martin