Colorado Avalanche Gameday: East Coast Swingin’
Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images
The road trip continues for the Avs in a long weekend matinee
The Colorado Avalanche and their busy February continues. This time, today they visit upstate New York to face the struggling Buffalo Sabres. This game was originally scheduled in December right before the Christmas Break but had to be rescheduled due to COVID.
With these two teams on opposite ends of the standings, it should go towards the team from Colorado. We are never certain though, but the last time these two faced off in late January the Avs pulled out on top 4-1.
Colorado Avalanche
Speaking of the Avalanche pulling out on top, they did just that on Wednesday night with a valiant 2-0 shutout win over the Vegas Golden Knights. They spoiled the party in Vegas with the return of Jack Eichel, and made a statement to all in the league that night.
This was thanks to Darcy Kuemper, who was superb in that win with 29 saves. It was his second straight shutout in less than a week. He is just a part of this new historic run the Avs are currently on: they’ve won their last six games on the road, and are 7-0-1 in their last eight games away from home.
This is the third longest streak in team history and there’s a good chance it can be extended with three more games on this road trip throughout the next week. Captain Gabriel Landeskog, who scored the game-winning goal Wednesday, will look to extend that streak further.
Forwards
Gabriel Landeskog (92) - Nathan MacKinnon (29) - Mikko Rantanen (96)
Valeri Nichushkin (13) - Nazem Kadri (91) - Andre Burakovsky (95)
Logan O’Connor (25) - Alex Newhook (18) - J.T. Compher (37)
Darren Helm (43) - Tyson Jost (17) - Nicolas Aube-Kubel (16)
Defenders
Devon Toews (7) - Cale Makar (8)
Jack Johnson (3) - Samuel Girard (49)
Kurtis MacDermid (56) - Erik Johnson (6)
Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres are sitting second-to-last in the Atlantic Division only ahead of the bottom-feeding Montreal Canadiens. Sitting on 40 points on the year, they’re coming off of a 3-1 loss at home to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night who also are on 40 points.
After dealing Eichel to the Golden Knights, they got Alex Tuch in return who has been a nice return for their former captain. He sits on seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points in 17 games.
All-Star defensemen Rasmus Dahlin is doing the best he can to develop with his struggling side as well. He’s got 32 points in 48 games and looks to add to that tally this afternoon and steer the Sabres into the win column with a big upset.
Forwards
Jeff Skinner (53) - Tage Thompson (72) - Alex Tuch (89)
Peyton Krebs (19) - Dylan Cozens (24) - Victor Olofsson (71)
Rasmus Asplund (74) - Cody Eakin (20) - Kyle Okposo (21)
Anders Bjork (96) - Mark Jankowski (17) - John Hayden (15)
Defenders
Rasmus Dahlin (26) - Henri Jokiharju (10)
Jacob Bryson (78) - Casey Fitzgerald (45)
Robert Hagg (8) - Mark Pysyk (13)
Goaltending
With the domination Kuemper has been on, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he gets the nod once again. For the Sabres, it looks to be veteran and former Avalanche goaltender Craig Anderson getting the start. ...
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