The Avalanche look to get back to .500 Friday night when they play in Anaheim to open a two-game road trip through southern California. They play in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Here are the game notes.
Reto Berra will make his first start in goal after relieving the struggling Semyon Varlamov in the second period of Wednesday's 6-2 home loss to Boston. He only faced five shots but stopped them all.
The Avalanche went 1-1-1 against the Ducks last season, 1-0-1 at the Honda Center.
The Avalanche weren't going to skate Friday morning and I'm not on the road, but I did talk to defenseman Erik Johnson before the team left Colorado.
Coach Patrick Roy and his players have been preaching the importance of getting off to a good start since the end of last season, so going 1-2-0 on the three-game homestand was disappointing, to say the least.
After grabbing a 4-1 lead in an eventual stinging 5-4 loss to Minnesota in the season opener, the Avalanche started poorly against Dallas and Boston in the last two games of the homestand.
"Yeah, it's a broken record," Johnson said. "You can say we have to start better all you want, but you have to go out and execute. We started great against Minny, started good against Dallas and it didn't show up on the scoresheet, but we came back in that game.
"We were on our heels pretty much the whole (Bruins) game after they pumped in the first two goals. It's just a matter of going out and executing. You can say all those things you want, but we have to go out and do it.
"We at least wanted to go 2-1 on the homestand, so we have to be better there. We have to make (the Pepsi Center) a tough place to play. 3-0 is always the goal, but 1-2 ... we have to be better on home ice. We're going on the road now and we'll regroup and get better."
Spending a lot less time in the defensive zone would certainly help, along with eliminating so many turnovers.
Center Matt Duchene had a stiff back after hitting the boards Thursday in practice, but Roy said he expected him to play against the Ducks. It could be a game-time decision, since the Avalanche didn't skate Friday morning and weren't even planning to go to the rink for availability.
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The Ducks aren't happy, either, having gone 0-2-1 in their first three games while scoring one goal. Defenseman Sami Vatanen scored it in a 2-1 shootout loss to Vancouver. The Ducks opened with a 2-0 loss to San Jose and they dropped a 4-0 decision to Arizona on Wednesday.
Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau cancelled practice Thursday following a video session, telling the Orange County Register: "I just said I don’t want anybody if we’re not going to practice to get better today. If it’s not going to make us better, let’s go home."
Like the Avalanche, the Ducks have had poor starts and have been outworked.
“The work ethic, that’s been the eye opener,… Boudreau said. “We’ve been outworked. The other teams are quick that we’ve played. But they’re quick because they’re working hard to be quick. And we’re waiting for things to happen. We’re coasting back in the zones. That’ll change. But right now, that’s where it’s at.…