I figured the Avalanche would do a lot worse than to go 4-3-0 on their just-completed two-week road trip.
Yet after winning the first three games by the combined score of 13-3, I had visions of them splitting the next four to come home with 10 of a possible 14 points.
That didn't happen, but after giving up 16 goals while losing the next three games, the road-weary Avalanche rode the goaltending of Semyon Varlamov to a 4-1 win against Central Division opponent Winnipeg on Monday to end the excursion on a successful note.
Now they need to get their act together at the Pepsi Center, where they'll take a 2-5-1 home record into a two-game homestand that begins Wednesday against Ottawa.
The Avalanche will need Varlamov to stay healthy and to duplicate his Monday play the rest of the way. He only faced 21 shots against the Jets but made a number of key saves before the Avalanche reeled off three goals in the third period -- one into an empty net -- to secure the win.
Coach Patrick Roy challenged Varlamov, who missed the previous seven games (five with a groin injury) to start playing the way he did in 2013-14 when he was a Vezina Trophy finalist.
"I know that the expectations for me are huge," Varlamov told reporters. "I'm ready to play and I just need to stay healthy."
Varlamov has posted a 4-6-1 record and improved his goals-against average to 3.05 and his save percentage to .894 with Monday's game, very pedestrian numbers. He has yet to win two games in a row and will get another opportunity against the Senators.
The Avalanche are banking on Varlamov to have the kind of resurgence Matt Duchene has been experiencing for the past three weeks. After collecting one goal and one assist in the first 10 games, Duchene has 10 goals and seven assists in the past 11 games. He's matched Claude Lemieux's team record for goals in November -- 10 -- set in 1995-96.
"(The win in Winnipeg) was a turning point for us, hopefully, and what we've got to build on going forward," said Duchene, who has seven goals and six assists in a seven-game scoring streak.
The Avalanche will need to string plenty of wins together for any chance to sneak into the playoff picture in the West.
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Alex Tanguay, who sustained a knee injury Nov. 6 against the New York Rangers, skated with a handful of players Tuesday, along with goalie Reto Berra. Tanguay is expected to miss another three weeks ... Ben Street was scheduled to undergo surgery Tuesday for a chest injury and will be out indefinitely. He was injured Nov. 17 against Toronto.