Game 67 Preview: The Return of the Kings

After a stellar weekend road trip, the Avs are back at home. The Avs put together two strong outings in Columbus and St. Paul, getting their first win of the season against each team and coming away with four points in total. Despite the fact that the playoffs look to be no more than a delusional fan's dream, the Avs have been playing their best hockey of the season of late. Scoring and decent defense have become the reason for the Avs' improving state, but injuries may be what continues to keep further success at bay. With MacKinnon and Johnson already added to the long list of man games loss the Avs have this season, Avalanche fans will be holding their breath as Semyon Varlamov is evaluated during the morning state today. Varlamov played great over the weekend, stopping 73 of 74 shots and coming just a funny bounce and about six minutes away from posting consecutive shutouts in back-to-back games. Varlamov exited shortly after seeing the puck deflect off Tyson Barrie and past him. Varlamov's injury is said to be a lower-body injury, and may very well be the same groin injury that kept him out earlier this season. In case Varlamov is not up to making the start, Calvin Pickard has been recalled.

The Avs will be taking on the Los Angeles Kings Tuesday night. When the Kings came to town a few weeks ago, they were riding a five game win streak. The Kings won in Denver, despite being out-shot heavily by the Avs and went on to extend that streak to eight games. It was looking like they were going to catch fire at the right time yet again. But the Kings have backtracked a bit, having collected only five points in their last six games. The reason for that skid may be offense. The Kings have been shutout twice in that six game period, including a 1-0 overtime loss against the Penguins on Saturday. The Kings and their scorers will look to get back on track Tuesday night.

LINES

Landeskog-O'Reilly-Hamilton

Caron-Duchene-Iginla

Tanguay-Mitchell-Everberg

McLeod-Hishon-Cliche

Hejda-Redmond

Guenin-Barrie

Stuart-Holden

Varlamov

Pickard

Berra

NOTES

- With the shutout on Saturday, Semyon Varlamov set a career-high with five shutouts on the year.

- Gabriel Landeskog has points in 10 of his last 12 games and is now tied with Jarome Iginla for the team lead in points.

- While Jarome Iginla may have 16 20-goal campaigns in his career, Landeskog, like Iginla will have three in his first four years with one more goal.

GAME INFO

Game time: 7pm, MT

TV: NBCSN, SNW, SNP