Vancouver Canucks to win close game at home against Colorado Avalanche - NHL Preview
Colorado Avalanche, travel to the Rogers Arena in Vancouver to face the Canucks on Wednesday, February 15th, 2012, as they look to continue their push for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The Avalanche are currently tenth with a 28-25-4 record and 60 points in the Western Conference with just three points separating them from the coveted eighth spot.
Colorado are 2-3 in February, as their inconsistent performances in offence continue to hamper their progress up the conference table.
The Avalanche finally ended a five game skid on Tuesday, February 7th with a big 5-2 victory over a struggling Chicago Blackhawks side and made it two wins in a row with a 4-3 overtime victory over Carolina Hurricanes.
Their two game winning run however, did not last long as they succumbed to a 3-2 defeat on the road to St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson who equalised for Colorado in regulation time was more than satisfied with the single point against the Blues whose home form is one of the best in the league.
"That's a good team that really wears you out in its own building," Johnson said. "Obviously, we'd like to get two but we'll take the one point."
Vancouver Canucks will be a completely different proposition. The Canadians are one of the best offensive sides this season as they rank third overall in the league rankings for average goals per game and are one of the favourites to make it back into the
Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Canucks in February though have failed to finish games in regular time with five of their six matches this month ending in a shootout which includes a 3-2 victory over tomorrow’s opponents.
Vancouver are 4-2 this month and second in the Western Conference with a 35-15-6 record and 76 points.
The Canucks who will play their second game of a three game home stretch on Wednesday, won a closely fought encounter against Phoenix Coyotes on Monday with a 2-1 shootout victory.
Captain Henrik Sedin is proud of the way his team is handling the pressure of consecutive shootout games to continue winning.
Talking after the win over Coyotes he said,
"It's a pressure situation and it's good to be in those sometimes, we keep winning and we have to take that as a positive. We're in every game, we're usually up and we're getting those one-goal wins that we're going to need in the playoffs as well."
For Colorado it will be a tough game on the road and the Canucks will be favourites to run out winners.
Recommendation: Vancouver Canucks win, most likely to go to after regulation time.
Tags: