NHL Game Previews & Matchups

Wednesday, January 9th (All times eastern)

COLORADO AVALANCHE (22-17-3) AT WASHINGTON CAPITALS (17-20-5), 7 P.M.

The Avalanche are struggling on the power play without their two biggest stars. Colorado will try to avoid its sixth loss in seven games tonight when they visit the Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center.

Colorado has dropped five of its last six games, and is 0-for-17 on the man advantage in that span. The Avalanche are ranked next to last on the power play this year, scoring at just a 13.4 percent clip. Only the Blues (12.1 percent) are worse with the extra skater.

Last season, the Avs ranked fourth in the league on the power play with a 21.1 percentage. However, playing this year without both Joe Sakic (hernia surgery) and Ryan Smyth (broken right ankle) isn’t helping.

Colorado saw just one situation with the man advantage on Tuesday and failed to score in a 1-0 loss to Detroit. Dominik Hasek stopped all 19 shots he faced to guide the Red Wings.

Jose Theodore took the tough loss, stopping 24 shots for the Avalanche, who have netted 10 goals in their last six games.

Colorado has lost three in a row on the road and are 6-11-3 overall as the visiting team this year. Last night’s loss was in the opener of a five-game road trip that will also take the team to Carolina, Florida and Tampa Bay.

Washington has won three of its last four games after posting a 5-4 overtime win versus Montreal on Saturday. Mike Green’s third point of the game came at the 1:27 mark of overtime as he redirected a Michael Nylander pass into the net from the right circle.

Green and Nylander each had two assists, while Alexander Ovechkin scored twice to give him 32 goals on the season, which is tied for second most in the NHL. Boyd Gordon and Nicklas Backstrom also scored goals in the victory and Olaf Kolzig made 23 saves.

Green is tied for the NHL lead in goals among defenseman with 11. Ovechkin, meanwhile, has found the back of the net in 17 of his last 27 games and also has at least a point in 24 of his last 27 tests (23 goals, 12 assists).

The Capitals have a trio of players questionable for tonight’s game in Tom Poti (upper body), Brian Pothier (upper body) and Alexander Semin (tailbone). Poti and Semin have each missed the last two contests, while Pothier sat out Saturday’s game.

Washington has won its last two at home and begins a five-game residency tonight, its longest of the season. The Capitals are 8-10-1 as the home team and also host Philadelphia, Ottawa, Edmonton and Florida.

The Capitals and Avs will meet for the only time this year tonight. Colorado is visiting the Verizon Center for the first time since a 2-1 Washington victory on March 16, 2003. The clubs have split two games in Denver since.

The Caps won the most recent meeting, a 5-3 victory on October 25, 2006.

DALLAS STARS (24-16-4) AT CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (19-19-4), 8:30 P.M.

The Dallas Stars begin a five-game road trip tonight, as they make a stop in Chicago and the United Center to tangle with the Blackhawks.

Dallas halted a four-game losing streak on Monday with a 3-1 victory over Minnesota. Antti Miettinen scored twice to pace the Stars.

Prior to the game, Mike Ribeiro signed a five-year contract extension worth $25 million. The center’s current contract was set to expire at the conclusion of the 2007-08 season.

The new deal paid instant dividends, as the Stars’ leading scorer tallied two assists. Ribeiro is tops on the club with 21 goals and 46 points.

Marty Turco was pulled in his previous game against the Wild just over 13 minutes in, but fared better in this contest, making 18 saves to help halt Dallas’ skid.

The Stars have lost their last two on the road, where they are 11-9-2 this season. The club will also make stops in St. Louis, Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose on its current road swing.

Injuries continue to factor into the Blackhawks’ recent struggles. Chicago is 0-4-2 in its last six games after a four-game winning streak and the club has been without Brent Sopel (broken finger) and James Wisniewski (sprained knee) for each of those six loses. Also, rookie Jonathan Toews has missed the last four contests because of a sprained knee.

The Blackhawks were last in action on Tuesday, when the franchise fell to historic rival Montreal, 4-3, in overtime. The Canadiens’ Maxim Lapierre skated with the puck from his own zone along the left half-wall and through the neutral zone, then cut across the slot toward the right circle. Lapierre then slid a pass to the left post for Guillaume Latendresse, who put in a backdoor redirection 3:18 into the extra frame.

Jack Skille, Robert Lang and Kris Versteeg scored for the Blackhawks, while Patrick Lalime allowed four goals on 38 shots in the loss. Skille’s tally was his first NHL goal.

Before the game, there was a ceremony to honor the storied rivalry between these two Original Six franchises, which includes 82 seasons worth of battles. Former Montreal great Guy Lafleur as well as Chicago legends Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita were included in the ceremony among others.

Chicago, which is now last in the Central Division, plays the first of consecutive home games tonight. The Blackhawks also host Minnesota on Friday and are 12-10-1 as the host this year.

Chicago has won both of its matchups with Dallas this season and four of the last five meetings overall. The Blackhawks have also won three in a row as the host versus the Stars after going winless in seven games in the Windy City against them.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (16-18-8) AT ANAHEIM DUCKS (22-17-6), 10 P.M.

(Sports Network) - If the Ducks are going to make a move in the Pacific Division, the time may just be now. Anaheim gets one final tune-up tonight before a pair of games against the co-division leaders, as it hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Honda Center.

The Ducks began a four-game homestand with a 5-2 victory against Nashville, and are two points back of San Jose and Dallas in the Pacific Division standings. Following tonights tilt, Anaheim will host the Sharks on Sunday and the Stars on Tuesday.

Five different Ducks lit the lamp on Monday, with Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Kunitz and Corey Perry each posting a goal and an assist. For Getzlaf, he extended his point streak to eight games, totaling four goals and six assists during that run, and leads Anaheim with 46 points (17 goals, 29 assists).

Travis Moen and Chris Pronger also scored, while Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 20 stops as Anaheim won for the third time in four games.

Anaheim has won its last four games at home and is 13-6-4 at the Honda Center this year.

Toronto plays the first of three straight on the road and will try to rebound from Saturday’s 3-2 home loss against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Penalties cost Toronto over the weekend, as Ian White’s interference call gave the Flyers a power play, and Philadelphia’s Mike Richards cashed in with the game-winning tally with 2:51 left in the third.

Then, with 1:55 to play, Pavel Kubina was called for high sticking to effectively kill any chance of Toronto making a comeback.

Mats Sundin scored both goals while Andrew Raycroft stopped 29 shots for the Maple Leafs, who have dropped five of their last six games. Sundin leads Toronto in goals (20), assists (28) and points (48), though due to the Maple Leafs’ poor play this year, trade rumors involving Sundin are beginning to heat up.

This now marks Sundin’s 17th straight 20-goal season.

Carlo Colaiacovo left the game in the first period with a knee injury and is out indefinitely. Also, Jason Blake suffered an eye injury after getting hit by the Flyers’ Steve Downie, but is probable for tonight. Blake has six points (3g, 3a) over his last three games.

Toronto, which is 8-10-3 as the visitor and has lost three straight and six of its last seven on the road, will also travel to Los Angeles and San Jose on this current swing.

The Maple Leafs have won four of their last five meetings with the Ducks, and the clubs haven’t met in Anaheim since November 12, 2003, a 5-1 Ducks victory.

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