Any Colour You Like
Regular bean eater
COL vs. CHI
(45 pts, C5) 21-18-3 || 26-13-4 (56 pts, C2)
Sunday, Jan 10, 2016
6:00 PM CST
Chicago, Illinois
Locally Broadcast On
Good Ol’ Channel 9!
[fieldset="Setting the Stage"]Backed by goalie Semyon Varlamov, the Colorado Avalanche will try to end the Chicago Blackhawks' season-high six-game winning streak at United Center on Sunday.
The streak includes Chicago's 4-3 overtime win against the Avalanche at Pepsi Center on Dec. 31, when the Blackhawks ended Varlamov's eight-game winning streak against them.
Varlamov is 11-3-1 with a 1.93 goals-against average, .946 save percentage and three shutouts in 16 career appearances against the Blackhawks.
"It was certainly nice to beat him," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said after Chicago's morning skate. "Some of the games when we played against them, he had unbelievable games and the chances were high in our favor, and we just couldn't get them [past him]."
Colorado has won three straight games, and Varlamov has been in net for each one. His most recent victory against the Blackhawks was a 3-0 shutout at United Center on Dec. 15, when Patrick Kane's 26-game point streak came to a halt.
It was reminiscent of other Colorado wins against Chicago, with the Avalanche giving Varlamov an early 1-0 lead to protect on forward Matt Duchene's first-period goal. Defenseman Zach Redmond made it 2-0 in the second and Varlamov did the rest.
"They seem to always have that same thing," Quenneville said. "They'd score early on us, and then we'd get frustrated a little bit, but we still generated throughout the game. But [Varlamov] had some special games against us, and certainly it's nice to get over that hurdle."
Avalanche forward Jarome Iginla said the Blackhawks were granted too much space in the second game, which led to Chicago outshooting Colorado 43-30.
"If they get moving around, that's a huge strength of theirs," Iginla said. "They were finding space and making plays, and then their [defensemen] start getting involved [offensively]. They're hard to keep up with when you let them do that. We gave them a little too much time in our zone and they exploited it."
Colorado isn't the only opponent which has had a difficult time slowing up the Blackhawks recently. Chicago has outshot its past two opponents, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres, by a combined margin of 82-47.
Corey Crawford will start in net for the Blackhawks, who are 23-3-2 when scoring first.
Colorado coach Patrick Roy said he will ice the same lineup from the 5-3 win against the Nashville Predators at Pepsi Center on Friday. Injured defensemen Erik Johnson (lower body) and Brad Stuart (back) aren't ready to return, so Andrew Bodnarchuk will continue to play with veteran defenseman Francois Beauchemin.
Defenseman Brandon Gormley, who cleared waivers last week, will likely remain with Colorado until Johnson and Stuart return.
"Nothing has changed [with Gormley]," Roy said. "Hockey, sometimes, is a business and things could happen, unfortunately, in this case for him. We thought Stuart and [Johnson] may be back soon, and we might have roster decisions to make. [Gormley clearing waivers] will give us a little more flexibility. That's all it is."
- Brian Hedger, -NHL.com
[/fieldset]Starting Lineups
[fieldset="Colorado Avalanche"]
GF | 122 | GF/G | 2.67
GA | 117 | GA/G | 2.79
AWAY | 12-9-0 | PP% | 21.8% (5th)
STREAK | W3 | PK% | 79.3% (21st)
40-29-9
Alex Tanguay - Nathan MacKinnon - Matt Duchene
27-25-12
Andreas Martinsen - Mikhail Grigorenko - Jarome Iginla
92-34-14
Gabriel Landeskog - Carl Söderberg - Blake Comeau
55-7-8
Cody McLeod - John Mitchell - Jack Skille
32-41
François Beauchemin - Andrew Bodnarchuk
2-4
Nick Holden - Tyson Barrie
22-5
Zach Redmond - Nate Guenin
1
Semyon Varlamov
31
Calvin Pickard
[fieldset="Chicago Blackhawks"]
GF | 120 | GF/G | 2.79
GA | 101 | GA/G | 2.35
HOME | 17-5-1 | PP% | 22.5% (3rd)
STREAK | W6 | PK% | 81.5% (12th)
65-19-81
Andrew Shaw - Jonathan Toews - Marián Hossa
72-15-88
Artemi Panarin - Artem Anisimov - Patrick Kane
11-24-86
Andrew Desjardins - Phillip Danault - Teuvo Teräväinen
53-70-28
Brandon Mashinter - Dennis Rasmussen - Ryan Garbutt
2-4
Duncan Keith - Niklas Hjalmarsson
57-7
Trevor van Riemsdyk - Brent Seabrook
32-52
Michal RozsÃval - Erik Gustafsson
50
Corey Crawford
33
Scott Darling
[fieldset="Injury Report"]
Reto Berra | Ankle | 2 weeks
Erik Johnson | Lower-body | Day-to-day
Ben Street | Chest | Indefinitely
Brad Stuart | Back | Indefinitely
Jesse Winchester | Concussion | Indefinitely
Marcus Krüger | Dislocated wrist | 4 months
LET'S GO HAWKS!
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Worthless frame
