Avalanche at Predators, Game 45 Preview

Annnnnnnnd take two! The Colorado Avalanche and Nashville Predators just saw each other on Tuesday. Unfortunately, the Avs didn't show up until it was too late. Tonight it's important that they do. Another loss would signify a losing spree, and we all know what happens when the boys get on a roll.

Story lines for tonight are all about injuries, at least for the Avalanche. Shane O'Brien is on the IR and, as we expected, will not play tonight. Thus Ryan "Mack Truck" Wilson will play. Erik Johnson is with the team and practiced on Wednesday, but there's no word yet on whether or not he'll play. If he doesn't, Matt Hunwick remains in the line up. The big news, though, is the reactivation of Peter Mueller. He's with the team. He's healthy. But will he play? Why yes. Yes he will. Lines not announced yet, so the mystery of who's not playing remains.

The Preds are just missing one guy, Jerred Smithson (lower body), who also missed Tuesday's game. He's considered questionable for tonight's tilt.

Goaltenders remain the same as Semyon Varlamov will battle Pekka Rinne yet again. Ryan O'Reilly will be playing in his 200th game tonight. Seems like just yesterday when he was a tyke being drafted by the Avs after the Red Wings foolishly passed him by. Now he's the dark horse for the Selke. My my how time flies.

UPDATE: Per Mike Haynes, Giguere will get the start; Mueller, Johnson and Yip are in; Porter, Jones and Hunwick are out. He says Sacco gave him the 411.

Tale of the Tape courtesy of NHL.com

	Stats
44	GP	42
23	W	23
20	L	15
1	OT	4
47	P	50
0.534	P%	0.595
2.46	G/G	2.67
2.82	GA/G	2.71
18.8	PP%	22.2
81.1	PK%	81.5
30.7	S/G	27.4
29.2	SA/G	31.1
51.8	FO%	49.5