Oct 17, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche center Paul Stastny (26) hip checks Detroit Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser (65) in the first period at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
The Colorado Avalanche (40-17-5, 85 points) are coming off of one of theirmost impressive wins of the seasonTuesday night, defeating the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks by the final score of 4-2.Erik Johnsonwould play a big part in the win as the defenseman had three assists while rookieNathan MacKinnonstretched his consecutive game point streak to 12 games.
What: NHL Preview: vs.
When: Thursday, March 6th
Where: Joe Louis Arena
Time: 8:00 PM ET, 6:00 PM MT
TV: NHL Network
This will be the second and final meeting between the two longtime rivals as the Detroit Red Wings took the first game back on Oct. 17th, giving the Avalanche their first loss of the season.Johan Franzenwas the difference maker in the game, scoring two goals while teammatePavel Datsyuk(won’t play) scored two goals of his own. Erik Johnson and captainGabriel Landeskogwould score Colorado’s two goals.
In case you didn’t know, Colorado reached the 40-win mark faster than any team in franchise history with the win over the Blackhawks Tuesday night. They would record the feat in 62 games while the team back in 2000-01′ recorded 40 wins in 63 games.
Colorado was relatively quiet at the NHL Trade Deadline but would makeone trade on the afternoon. They would acquire goaltenderReto Berrafrom the Calgary Flames in exchange for a second-round draft pick. Here is more on what executive vice presidentJoe Sakichad to say about the trade via NHL.com:
"“We wanted to make sure that if something happens to [starter Semyon Varlamov], we have a good guy there if [Jean-Sebastien Giguere‘s] back doesn’t hold up,” executive vice president of hockey operations Joe Sakic told reporters. “We have someone we know is a very good goalie. If [Varlamov] went down, the prospects aren’t ready, so we wanted to make sure we solidified that goalie situation for the next few years.”"
The Detroit Red Wings would make a trade of their own, sending forwardPatrick Eaves, a third-round draft pick, and Calle Jarnkrok to the Nashville Predators for forwardDavid Legwand.
Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk will not play Thursday night as he has been shut down for the next three weeks with a sore right knee.
Projected Starting Goaltenders:
Colorado Avalanche: Jean-Sebastien Giguere: 9-5-0, 2.62 GAA, .912% save percentage.
Detroit Red Wings:Jimmy Howard: 13-14-9, 2.64 GAA, .913% save percentage.
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