Cheers to 20(14th)?

Cheers to 2014!

It was a good year to be an Avs fan, until it was an awful year to be an Avs fan. The year started out promising with an exciting run for a division title and a fun, but short playoff run. This Wednesday the Avs will look to rebound from a more than disappointing last two games with their 14th win of the season. The Avs will be kicking off a three game homestand; a homestand that I believe the Avs must sweep if they want to hold onto any realistic hope of making the playoffs this season.

The Avs will kick off the homestand against a team that is in a very similar situation as they Avs. Like the Avs, the Philadelphia Flyers are coming off a two-game losing streak that was proceeded by a three-game winning streak. The Flyers, like the Avs also have 34 points and sit four positions out of a playoff spot. The Flyers are lead by forwards Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek who sit one and two in the NHL in assists and one and three in points. Past those two, the Flyers look a lot like...well, they look a lot like the Avalanche offensively, only with less good goaltending.

NOTES

- The Flyers won 4-3 against the Avs in Philly back on November 8th despite nearly giving up a 4-0 lead.

- The Flyers should be a good team for the Avs to put their power play back together with, they own the league's worst penalty kill at 74%.

- Erik Johnson has as many goals in the last seven games as Duchene, O'Reilly, Landeskog, and MacKinnon have combined in the entire month of December.

LINES

The Avs recalled Borna Rendulic, so I'd expect him to fill Holden's spot on the 4th line.

Talbot-Duchene-MacKinnon

Tanguay-Mitchell-Iginla

Landeskog-O'Reilly-Briere

McLeod-Cliche-Rendulic

Hejda-Johnson

Guenin-Barrie

Stuart-Redmond

Varlamov

Berra

GAME INFO

Game time: 7pm, MT

TV: ALT

Happy freaking New Year.

Let's think of the good times...