Preview: Avalanche at Canucks

Oy, where to start, where to start...

Do I talk about the fact that the Avalanche have looked really dreadful well, pretty much since the moment Brad Stuart legally made contact with Gabriel Landeskog's head in San Jose? The Avalanche have been outscored 8-1 in the 105 minutes since that hit and have given up 7 (seven!) power play goals. Perhaps losing your two top penalty killers - Jay McClement and Dan Winnik - wasn't the best idea ever after all?

Do I whine that the Avalanche have a grand total of one PP goal this year? (And, oh by the way, only 1 team has fewer PP opportunities so far this year...a story that seems vaguely familiar).

Do I mention that the Avs have been absolutely brutal against the Canucks in recent years. So, so many games that I would just as soon try to forget (thankfully, the late start times for these means I've slept through a fair number of these stinkers).

You know, fuck that noise. For all the doom and gloom over the last few days, the Avalanche are one big game away from erasing ALL of these stupid story lines. Yep, there are good players out for the Avalanche, but there are also good players IN the game as well. Matt Duchene and P.A. Parenteau have been pretty good. Paul Stastny is due. Michael Sgarbossa should make his NHL debut. All eight of the defensemen who could play tonight are capable NHL defensemen. Semyon Varlamov can certainly keep the wonderbread twins off the board. Tonight is going to be a Manvalanche night.