Avalanche at Hurricanes
The Colorado Avalanche continue their five-game road trip Tuesday, when they pay a visit to PNC Arena to take on the Carolina Hurricanes. Colorado began its trek Monday with a 2-1 loss at Washington, ending its three-game overall winning streak. Alex Tanguay scored the lone goal for the Avalanche, who look to complete a sweep of the two-game season series against the Hurricanes.
Carolina is in the midst of an offensive explosion, having totaled nine goals in its last two games after scoring two or fewer in nine straight contests and 17 of its previous 18. After winning three of four, the Hurricanes dropped a 5-4 decision at St. Louis in a shootout on Saturday. Jeff Skinner and Victor Rask each recorded a goal and an assist as Carolina carried a 4-3 lead into the third period before falling.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Altitude (Colorado), SportSouth (Carolina)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (18-17-8): Tanguay's goal on Monday was his 13th of the season, putting him one ahead of Jarome Iginla and defenseman Erik Johnson for the team lead. The tally was Tanguay's first on the power play since March 13, 2013 while with Calgary. Semyon Varlamov has been superb over his last four games, going 3-1-0 while stopping 163-of-170 shots.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (13-24-5): Despite his team's recent scoring woes, Eric Staal has raised his game offensively. The 30-year-old captain enters Tuesday with a three-game goal-scoring streak and has tallied in six of his last seven contests after finding the net once in his previous 16. Skinner also appears to be breaking out of his slump, scoring in back-to-back games to match the goal output from his previous 15 contests.
OVERTIME
1. Varlamov was named the NHL's Second Star of the Week on Monday after going 3-0-0 with one shutout, a 1.67 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage in three contests.
2. Carolina D Justin Faulk, the team's All-Star representative, is one goal away from matching his career high of eight set as a rookie in 2011-12.
3. Colorado trailed at home 3-1 after one period before rallying for a 4-3 victory over the Hurricanes on Nov. 22.