Avalanche Prepares For Hurricanes

CENTENNIAL, Colo.--The Colorado Avalanche will get its first significant break between games later this week, but the club first has a tough task ahead of it in the Carolina Hurricanes.
Colorado hosts Carolina on Monday night at Pepsi Center in the second outing of a four-game homestand before having three days between contests, a rarity at this time of the season around the league.
The Avalanche has played nearly every other day since Feb. 5, and Monday's matchup against the Hurricanes marks the end of a stretch featuring 19 games in 35 days.

Much like the Avs in the West, the Canes are battling for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games and presently in third place in the Metropolitan Division. However, Carolina is also just two points up on ninth-place Montreal.
"Tough team, fast team, relentless work ethic throughout their lineup," said Colorado head coach Jared Bednar of the squad's next opponent. "Very consistent with what they do, and they're a high-volume shooting team. They get a lot of pucks and traffic to the net, so they're tough to handle on the defensive side of things. The other night, they put up five (goals) again. This is a team that is cooking and making a push for the playoffs."

Bednar did not say who his starting goaltender will be for the matchup against Carolina, but Philipp Grubauer could once again get the nod after posting shutouts in two of his last three starts.
He stopped all 18 shots he faced in the Avalanche's 3-0 win on Saturday versus the Buffalo Sabres. The netminder has stopped 80 of the last 82 shots he's faced in his previous four appearances and recorded 42 saves in the Avs' last meeting versus the Canes on Oct. 20 in Raleigh.
"[It] could be possibly tough to take him out," Bednar said of the possibility of Grubauer getting the start.
Both Grubauer and fellow goalie Semyon Varlamov took part in Sunday's optional practice at Family Sports Center, along with seven skaters.
The goaltending tandem has been key to the Avs' push for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in recent weeks. Colorado has allowed only 27 goals in the 13 games since Feb. 14, tied for fifth fewest in the league in that time with Carolina and the Vegas Golden Knights.
"They've given us a chance to win every night," Bednar said of his keepers. "If you look at our team's record since then, that is one of the reasons why it is the way it is."
The Avalanche is presently 10th in the Western Conference with 72 points, two fewer than the Minnesota Wild, which holds the second wild-card spot at the moment (74).