Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov has been named the NHL's first star of the week after winning all three of his starts last week with a shutout, 0.67 goals-against average and .981 save percentage.
Washington's T.J. Oshie and Minnesota's Mikko Koivu were the second and third stars, respectively. Oshie had five goals and three assists in four games. Koivu had three goals and five assists in three games.
Varlamov, who has allowed six goals in a personal six-game winning streak, will face the Toronto Maple Leafs for the first time this season Monday night at the Pepsi Center.
Here are the official notes for the game.
The Avalanche (17-16-1) have outscored teams 16-5 during a five-game winning streak and will be trying to win a third consecutive home game for the first time this season.
Leafs forward PA Parenteau knows how good Varlamov can be when he's on a roll like this, having seen it first-hand two years ago during his second and final season with the Avalanche.
"He stole about 15 games, he was unbelievable," Parenteau said after the morning skate. "He's back doing that for the last few games, so we're going to have to get some traffic and make life a little harder for him because when he's feeling it, he's one of the best in the league."
Special teams were a disaster when the Avalanche lost 5-1 in Toronto on Nov. 17. The Leafs scored four power-play goals and one shorthanded. Parenteau, who has eight goals and seven assists in 31 games, had two of the power-play goals.
Varlamov was nursing a groin injury at the time and the Avalanche didn't give Reto Berra any help.
"We didn't do a good job on the battles," coach Patrick Roy said. "They did a good job moving the puck quickly, they scored two goals from the slot area and we didn't do a good job protecting the slot area. Hopefully we're going to do better."
The Avalanche won't play again until Sunday when they meet Arizona to close out a four-game homestand.
"The important thing is we make sure we're ready for this game," Blake Comeau said. "I've been on teams before where the Christmas break is right around the corner and it's important for us to make sure there are no distractions and know how important this game is."
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Matt Duchene was an Avalanche fan growing up in Haliburton, Ontario, but he has an added incentive for winning Monday.
"They were close to us and a lot of my friends are Leaf fans, so it's always nice to hopefully beat them so I can send them some texts after the game," he said.
***** The Leafs (11-13-7) have gone 9-5-5 after losing 10 of their first 12 games under first-year coach Mike Babcock. They're 3-0-2 in the past five games and are coming off a 5-0 home win Saturday against Los Angeles when goalie Jonathan Bernier made 26 saves for his first win in 12 decisions this season.
"We had such a rough start digging ourselves a hole," said Parenteau, who is expected to skate on a line with James van Riemsdyk and former University of Denver star Tyler Bozak. "I feel like we're climbing slowly but surely out of it. The guys are working, they're buying in, so it's good. It took a little time to figure out the system and for the guys to get used to it. We're doing a lot of good things."
No lineup changes for the Avalanche:
FORWARDS Gabriel Landeskog -Nathan MacKinnon - Matt Duchene Andreas Martinsen - Carl Soderberg - Blake Comeau Alex Tanguay - John Mitchell - Jarome Iginla Cody McLeod - Mikhail Grigorenko - Jack Skille
DEFENSE Francois Beauchemin - Erik Johnson Nick Holden - Tyson Barrie Zach Redmond - Nate Guenin
GOALIES Semyon Varlamov Reto Berra