Colorado Avalanche battling for survival as they face Vancouver Canucks – NHL Preview
Vancouver Canucks need not worry about reaching the National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs as they have already topped the Northwest Division, but Colorado Avalanche have every reason to worry.
Avalanche are in competition with a couple of other teams in the Western Conference and with just four more games left for them in the regular season, they should ensure victories in all the encounters.
Avalanche and Canucks are going to face each other on Wednesday, March 28, 2012, at Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Let’s take a look at both teams.
Canucks
They are ranked at second spot in the Western Conference with 101 points after 76 games and are currently on a three-game winning streak with the victories coming against Dallas Stars (2-1), Colorado Avalanche (3-2 in overtime) and Los Angeles Kings (1-0).
Manny Malhotra, who scored the only goal of the game against Kings, said after the win:
"It's always nice to score. But it's even more fun to win, and we did it the right way tonight. We didn't give them too many great opportunities in front. We limited their offensive time with the puck and just made some really good decisions with the puck."
Canucks have six more games to play in the regular season and out of them, five will be played on their home ice.
Avalanche
They are ranked at 10th spot in the Western Conference with 86 points after 78 games and are one point behind the eighth-ranked Phoenix Coyotes.
With four games left for them to play in the regular season, Avalanche are in a must-win situation and even a single defeat could virtually eliminate them from playoff contention.
At present, Avalanche are on a three-game losing streak with the defeats coming against Phoenix Coyotes (3-2), Vancouver Canucks (3-2 in overtime) and San Jose Sharks (5-1).
After getting defeated against Sharks, Avalanche’s forward, Paul Stastny, said:
"No excuse, that's a tough loss to take. Four games left, you have to win them all and hope other things work out our way. It's a guaranteed must-win."
Predictions
Canucks have an edge.
The sum of goals scored by both teams might stay under six.
If Avalanche win, the winning margin will be less than two goals.
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