Hoping to be able to celebrate a much-needed win Thursday on U.S. Thanksgiving, the Avalanche meet Ottawa at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday to open a two-game homestand.
Here are the game notes.
The Avalanche haven't been home since a 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Nov. 6. They posted a 4-3-0 record during their two-week road trip that ended Monday with a 4-1 win in Winnipeg.
They'll need to keep winning on a consistent basis -- something that has yet to happen this 8-12-1 season -- and make a huge improvement on home ice, where they're an awful 2-5-1.
The lone home wins so far: 6-3 against Dallas on Oct. 10 and 6-3 against Calgary on Nov. 3.
They'll play Winnipeg again Saturday to end the brief stay at home before heading on the road again next week for four games.
Goalie Semyon Varlamov will make his second consecutive start after making 20 saves Monday in the win against the Jets. He was in net for both of the Avalanche's home wins.
"This is our chance to win," coach Patrick Roy said, referring to Varlamov. "Reto (Berra) was phenomenal in the first three games of that road trip. We need solid goaltending to win hockey games. That's what we had in the first three (games) and that's what we had in that last game. In order for us to win hockey games (the goalie) has to be our best player."
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Matt Duchene has a seven-game scoring streak (seven goals, six assists), and he's tied Claude Lemieux's team record for goals in November with 10. Lemieux set the mark in 1995-96.
Duchene, who had one goal in October, said he started scoring after making a slight adjustment in the way he approaches the net. Several of his goals have come on rebounds since the change.
"There's less puck control, less puck possession," he said. "It's more pucks on net, things bouncing around in front of the net, and it's just a matter of hanging around and being patient. At the start of the year I was going too hard to the net, almost standing on top of the goalie. Pucks were hitting me or hitting the goalie and going past me. Now it's getting in at the right time and finding those loose ones, just trying to be around the net more. That's really the only thing I changed.
"My best year goal-scoring wise (27 in 2010-11), I scored a ton (off rebounds). It's the biggest way to score now. You can get some on a shot or off a quick break, but most goals nowadays, if you look at the guys who are up there in scoring, they're getting to loose pucks and just firing them. It's kind of the way to score nowadays and it's working for me right now, but it's a matter of sticking with it."
What led to the change?
"I think when you get two points in 10 games to start the season, you start watching more on film about how goals are scored," Duchene said. "You go back and look at your goals, how you scored them in the past. Patty did that with me. It was funny how many were right in front of the net. I just tried to get back to that and, fortunately, it's been working."
Duchene said he's gotten over the trade rumors that surfaced a couple weeks ago. He spoke with Roy about it but said those were "personal" conversations he prefers to keep quiet.
"Obviously I love playing here and I want to be here as long as possible," he said. "As long as we're able to put a winning team on the ice, I'm happy here and I want to be here, I want to be an Av. I feel both those things are in place right now. When the (rumors started) it was tough right away. It was motivation if anything."
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Former Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson will make his sixth consecutive start for the Senators even though he played Tuesday in a 7-4 win in Dallas. Ottawa coach Dave Cameron said Andrew Hammond would play if he was healthy, but he's on injured reserve with a head injury. Rookie Chris Driedger, who was recalled Monday from Binghamton in the AHL, is the backup.
Here's the Avalanche lineup:
FORWARDS Gabriel Landeskog - Nathan MacKinnon - Matt Duchene Andreas Martinsen - Mikhail Grigorenko - Jarome Iginla Cody McLeod - Carl Soderberg - Blake Comeau Dennis Everberg - Chris Wagner - Jack Skille
DEFENSE Francois Beauchemin - Erik Johnson Nick Holden - Tyson Barrie Brandon Gormley - Zach Redmond
GOALIES Semyon Varlamov Reto Berra