 |  |  |
| Los Angeles Kings | 9:00 pm ET / 7:00 pm MT | Colorado Avalanche |
| 18-20-7 | January 21, 2009 | 23-22-1 |
| 43 points | Pepsi Center | 47 Points |
| 13th in West | Denver, CO | 11th in West |
Tonight the Colorado Avalanche will win against the Los Angeles Kings.
How's that for a preview?
But wait a second, Joe, how can you be so sure, you ask. Well, let me tell you. Starting on December 23 and continuing up until tonight, the Avs have been on a consistent three-games-won, three-games-lost roller coaster. Before crushing Calgary on Sunday, the Avs had lost three straight games between January 13th and 16th. Before that, they won three straight. Before that, they lost three straight. And before that, there was the three-game winning streak that began just before Christmas that I already mentioned above. Soooooo, the Avs have already won one game in the next three-game streak, and still have two more wins before they start crapping the bed again.
Sure, they can't seem to stay above .500 for more than a week, but at least they're getting the consistency thing down pat.
Now, other items of interest. Since the Avalanche had a huge offensive burst against the Flames (who had until then owned their asses), they will struggle to put points on the board tonight. Luckily, Los Angeles is absolutely horrible and it won't make any difference.
Also, the Quenneville Goalie Carousel Of Pain is back in full effect. You remember that, don't you? The one where each goalie plays until he loses? Yeah, that one. It's back. If you look at the Avs' schedule, you'll see that on January 4th, Peter Budaj started against the Wild and lost. The next game, Andrew Raycroft started, and he won the next three games. However, on January 13th against Columbus he lost, which meant Peter Budaj got the next start, on the 15th against the Blues. But Budaj lost that game, so Raycroft got the next start, on the 16th against Edmonton. Rayzor lost that one, so Budaj got the start against Calgary on Sunday. Since Budaj won that one, he gets the start tonight.
Sure, you could argue that Raycroft's sore calf muscle and back-to-back games played a hand in the coach Tony Granato's choice of starters. You could argue that, sure. But since I'm determined to see only the absolute worst possible scenario no matter what, I'm not going to listen to you. So be quiet.
(I admit the very high possibility that every single thing I've written here is worthless.)
ESPN preview.