Game 71 Preview: Avalanche at Ducks

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Mar 21, 2010 6:00 AM MDT


Colorado Avalanche	6 MT / 8 ET / 1 GMT	Anaheim Ducks
40-24-6	March 21st, 2010	33-29-8
86 pts	Honda Civic Center	74 pts
5th in West	Anaheim, CA	11th in West

As with a lot of these previews, I prepared this last night. Normally I have a chance to update them in the morning, but due to other plans I won't be able to do that today. So, the numbers above and below don't reflect any games on Saturday, most notably Columbus at Nashville, Los Angeles at the Islanders and Detroit at Vancouver. Although it says "5th" above, the Avalanche could be anywhere from 5th to 7th this morning.

Regardless of what happened last night, the Avalanche will still be playing for 5th place tonight, but they will need St Louis to beat Nashville this evening to help their cause. At least I think that's how this all shakes out; keeping track of all the different parameters is a tad overwhelming.

As for the game at hand, the Avalanche visit the Ducks tonight in the first of yet another set of these exhausting back-to-backs (still two more to go after this one). Each team has a regulation win in the series this year and each team has overcome a 2-goal deficit to do so. The Ducks scored 4 3rd period goals on December 22nd to win 4-2 in Colorado and the Avs scored 4 goals in a 20-minutes span on March 3rd to win 4-2 in Anaheim.

The Avalanche should have Ruslan Salei and Cody McLeod healthy for the game. I hope I don't come across as too unkind when I say that neither player could be described as "indispensable" this year, so I'm not sure how much of a boon this will be for the team. Meanwhile, two players who have had more of an impact - Stephane Yelle and Ryan Wilson - aren't expected to play (at least as of this writing). Olde Yeller (bruised knee) isn't making the trip to California while "Mitch" is day-to-day with a mild concussion suffered in that fight with Jamal Mayers on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Brandon Yip, David Jones and David Koci all skated on Friday, although there is no timetable for the return of any of the three. And Ryan Stoa has been returned to Lake Erie. Again.

Mike has the recap tonight, so, please, do not feed the trolls. Magic numbers (again, these don't take Saturday's games into account):

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OT	PTS	GR	MaxPts	Avs Magic#
1	Chicago	70	45	19	6	96	12	120	34
2	San Jose	71	43	18	10	96	11	118	32
3	Vancouver	71	44	24	3	91	11	113	27
4	Phoenix	71	44	22	5	93	11	115	29
5	Colorado	70	40	24	6	86	12	110
6	Los Angeles	69	40	24	5	85	13	111	25
7	Nashville	71	40	26	5	85	11	107	21
8	Detroit	70	34	23	13	81	12	105	19
9	Calgary	71	36	26	9	81	11	103	17
10	St. Louis	70	33	28	9	75	12	99	13
11	Anaheim	70	33	29	8	74	12	98	12
12	Minnesota	71	34	31	6	74	11	96	10
13	Dallas	70	30	27	13	73	12	97	11
14	Columbus	71	29	31	11	69	11	91	5
15	Edmonton	71	22	42	7	51	11	73

Avalanche vs Ducks coverage

Anaheim Calling

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Comments

7th it is - damn you loser point!!!

Nash 1, Columbus 0, OT
LA 1, Isl 0
Detoilet 4, Vancouger 3, OT (shit!)
Phoenix 5, Chicago 4, Coyotes 8th straight win.

“And a good morning to you too, sir!”

Paging Mr. Calder and Mr. Adams... your trophies will be found at 1000 Chopper Circle.

by tele-mon on Mar 21, 2010 7:55 AM MDT reply actions

well, that worked out kinda poorly. anyway, at least the part about the Avs playing for 5th still applies

Assistant *to* the Managing Editor, Mile High Hockey

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Mar 21, 2010 8:56 AM MDT up reply actions

Been waiting for today. I hate long periods of time between Avalanche hockey. :(

I call it... The Avaslug!
I am the 1st and probably only official member of the David "Dr." Jones fanclub. Until I get the newsletter out, anyway.

Syracuse Basketball 2010: Big East Champs!!! G'Orange!

by UZ on Mar 21, 2010 8:38 AM MDT reply actions

Agreed.

An ounce of confidence can carry you a mile toward winning. Oh, and Red Wings suck.

by texacogirl on Mar 21, 2010 1:55 PM MDT up reply actions

We have two games in hand on Nashville

Just need to catch LA who looked awful last night. 4 points in California will help.

Avalanche 2009-2010: Ostensibly, the worst team in the league. Realistically, more points than the Flames and Wings. But hey, your Corsi number is better.

by c6hor8 on Mar 21, 2010 8:52 AM MDT reply actions

Beating the Kings in two of remaining three match-ups with LA would be a big help.

MHH: The Burgundy Army is on the March!

I'm The Canary - but I'm not cute nor cuddly, and I don't sing.

by Americanario on Mar 21, 2010 9:43 AM MDT up reply actions

Welcome back, Avalanche hockey. See why you can’t let your foot off the gas at this time of year?

Thanks Joe...

by mfured20 on Mar 21, 2010 9:47 AM MDT reply actions

We need these 2 games

Vancouver has 2 games in hand on us and winning both will get up 2 pts behind them. That’s so doable! GO AVS!!!

by Avalanche318 on Mar 21, 2010 10:28 AM MDT reply actions

2- or 3-goal deficit?

Just wondering what kind of hole the team will put itself into today before they wake up.

/ Why yes, I am out of Positive Flakes breakfast cereal, why do you ask?

Acquired from Pensburgh for a first round pick and two comment posters to be named later.

by Dixomatic on Mar 21, 2010 11:38 AM MDT reply actions

lWinged fucking Wheel

1 second away from getting zero points in Edmonton (that’s right, Edmonton), end up getting the loser point. 1 second away from going into a shootout last night, win in OT. And don’t do us any favors by giving the Canuckleheads a loser point. F the winged wheel. F them right up the axle.

Jibbles is an older man so you can trust what he says.

by Bob in Boulder on Mar 21, 2010 11:54 AM MDT reply actions

that nucks game was crazy..i was half paying attention to it last night at work, id look up and nucks were up, then it was tied..then the wings were up,..then it was tied..fucking NUTS..shame the cansucks couldn’t win..but then we’re counting on Lou to pull a game out of his ass..and that only happens once a season..(luckily it was the gold medal game)

'I googled what the white stuff in a Ho-Ho was, i found out it has NINE cups of sugar..that will KILL YOU, it would turn your blood into fruit punch!'

by horbayj on Mar 21, 2010 11:59 AM MDT up reply actions

Alright boys, time to play like it's on the line!

Young guns need to haul out the big guns!

by xskatebakerrx on Mar 21, 2010 1:23 PM MDT reply actions

Big Gun

MHH: The Burgundy Army is on the March!

I'm The Canary - but I'm not cute nor cuddly, and I don't sing.

by Americanario on Mar 21, 2010 1:37 PM MDT up reply actions

Oh man, dont forget guys, we have to watch the Alt pregame to see if Beachie gets on TV with her sweet Young Guns Hatty poster!

Thanks Joe...

by mfured20 on Mar 21, 2010 1:35 PM MDT reply actions

Son of a…..

I won’t be able to watch the pre-game. 1) it doesn’t look like Center Ice has the Altitude feed, 2) even if they did I have to watch this game on “Prime” because I live 10 miles outside of the NHL’s designated viewers area for the Avs.

MHH: The Burgundy Army is on the March!

I'm The Canary - but I'm not cute nor cuddly, and I don't sing.

by Americanario on Mar 21, 2010 1:41 PM MDT up reply actions

Thank you Dish Network!

They are carrying the Alitboob feed and it’s in HD! :-)

Mile High Hockey: A Colorado Avalanche Fan Community
Defending Big D: A Dallas Stars blog on SBN: easy to use, free to join.

by Derek B on Mar 21, 2010 3:39 PM MDT up reply actions

I have Dish, but because of where I live, and NHL broadcasting rules, I still have to watch the game on the Ducks affiliate.

MHH: The Burgundy Army is on the March!

I'm The Canary - but I'm not cute nor cuddly, and I don't sing.

by Americanario on Mar 21, 2010 3:54 PM MDT up reply actions

After 20:00 the Adjectives are up 2-1 on the fLames. Harding got drilled with about 8 seconds left, no call and the officials didn’t even stop the play.

MHH: The Burgundy Army is on the March!

I'm The Canary - but I'm not cute nor cuddly, and I don't sing.

by Americanario on Mar 21, 2010 1:44 PM MDT reply actions

Don’t know if I’ll be on tonight, it’ll either be game and FFXIII or game and boards…

Sandie

"We called him Clark Kent because away from the rink, he was just a nerd. Then he'd go into the Colorado dressing room and put on his Avs jersey, and all of a sudden he was Super Joe"- Theo Fleury

by Sandie Gauthier on Mar 21, 2010 3:29 PM MDT reply actions

You know that

you are going to be here. Stop messing around Sandie!

Mile High Hockey: A Colorado Avalanche Fan Community
Defending Big D: A Dallas Stars blog on SBN: easy to use, free to join.

by Derek B on Mar 21, 2010 3:40 PM MDT up reply actions

how is FFXIII?

Assistant *to* the Managing Editor, Mile High Hockey

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Mar 21, 2010 3:45 PM MDT up reply actions

The fighting style is a bit different, I feel like it’s button mashing. I think it’s just because I’m early on it the game and so don;t have many abilities yet. Otherwise so far so good.

Sandie

"We called him Clark Kent because away from the rink, he was just a nerd. Then he'd go into the Colorado dressing room and put on his Avs jersey, and all of a sudden he was Super Joe"- Theo Fleury

by Sandie Gauthier on Mar 21, 2010 4:23 PM MDT up reply actions

I feel like I should probably get off my ass and finish 12 before getting this one, but I’m really looking forward to giving it a whirl

Assistant *to* the Managing Editor, Mile High Hockey

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Mar 21, 2010 4:34 PM MDT up reply actions

I never played 12, watched it being played though.

Sandie

"We called him Clark Kent because away from the rink, he was just a nerd. Then he'd go into the Colorado dressing room and put on his Avs jersey, and all of a sudden he was Super Joe"- Theo Fleury

by Sandie Gauthier on Mar 21, 2010 4:38 PM MDT up reply actions

No spoilers it will not be till I get home that I can play.

There are two ways of being happy: We must either diminish our wants or augment our means - either may do - the result is the same and it is for each man to decide for himself and to do that which happens to be easier.
- Benjamin Franklin

by tibbar on Mar 21, 2010 4:53 PM MDT up reply actions