Let's hope Calvin Pickard doesn't have to toss a shutout Tuesday when the Avalanche play Carolina in the second game of their five-game road trip.
There's plenty of pressure on the 22-year-old rookie as it is, playing an NHL game for the first time since Dec. 27 after spending his time since then with Lake Erie in the AHL. He was officially recalled for the fourth time Monday and dressed as Semyon Varlamov's backup in the 2-1 loss in Washington.
Pickard did play Saturday for Lake Erie and made 23 saves in a 2-1 win against Hamilton.
The Avalanche managed 14 shots in two periods against the Capitals before waking up and putting 18 third-period shots on goalie Braden Holtby. They've scored one goal or fewer 10 times this season and the leading scorers are Alex Tanguay, 35, and Jarome Iginla, 37, each with 28 points.
It's long past time for the other top forwards to start scoring on a consistent basis.
Here are the game notes.
Pickard has an 8-6-3 record with a 2.73 goals-against average and .912 save percentage with the Monsters. He's 6-6-2 with a 2.21 average (eighth in the NHL) and league-best .934 save percentage with the Avalanche.
Pickard earned his first NHL win against the Hurricanes on Nov. 22 at the Pepsi Center. He relieved Reto Berra (now in Cleveland on a "conditioning" assignment) in the first period and stopped all 17 shots he faced the rest of the way in a 4-3 comeback win.
The Avalanche are 1-3-1 in the second game when playing back to back and average 1.9 goals on the road, having scored 38 non-shootout goals in 20 road games.
One goal might have been enough to get the Avalanche to overtime Monday if Alex Ovechkin hadn't scored a power-play goal in the second period after Varlamov was penalized for punching Capitals forward Tom Wilson following a scrum in front.
Here's coach Patrick Roy's take on the referee's call as told to the Denver Post's Terry Frei.
Anton Khudobin is expected to start in goal for Carolina, which has gone 3-1-1 in its past four games. Khudobin has played much better than his 2-8-2 record; he has a 2.55 average and .906 save percentage.
The Hurricanes have killed 27 consecutive penalties in a 10-game span.
Here's the projected Avalanche lineup:
FORWARDS Gabriel Landeskog - Matt Duchene - Borna Rendulic Alex Tanguay - Ryan O'Reilly - Jarome Iginla Max Talbot - John Mitchell - Nathan MacKinnon Cody McLeod - Marc-Andre Cliche - Daniel Briere
DEFENSE Jan Hejda - Erik Johnson Nate Guenin - Tyson Barrie Nick Holden - Brad Stuart
GOALIES Calvin Pickard Semyon Varlamov