Another Tough Task Ahead For Colorado

CENTENNIAL, Colo.--The Colorado Avalanche faced a tough offensive team in the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night and picked up an overtime win. The club's next opponent on the schedule will present a similar challenge as the Avalanche closes the 2017 calendar year against the New York Islanders on Sunday at Pepsi Center.
New York is the second-highest scoring club in the NHL this season, averaging 3.5 goals per game, but that hasn't translated into many wins recently. The Islanders are 3-4-1 in their last eight contests, with each of those outings featuring at least five combined markers.

The Avs lost 6-4 to the Islanders in a high-scoring affair in the clubs' first matchup of the season on Nov. 5 in Brooklyn. Colorado ranks seventh in the league with 3.14 goals per game.
Taking what the team learned from that contest and New York's recent play, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar is emphasizing the importance of net-front presence in the second and final meeting of the campaign.
"We had a pretty good game against the Islanders from an offensive side of things. We created a lot of chances," Bednar said. "We didn't stay on pucks in front of the net enough to make it more difficult on their goaltending. We were a little lax on our tracking and reloading above pucks and some of our defensive details against the Islanders, and they made us pay for it."
Colorado might be without one of its offensive weapons for the New Year's Eve tilt after rookie J.T. Compher got banged up midway through Friday's 4-3 overtime victory against Toronto.

Compher, who has seven goals and six assists on the year, was able to finish the contest and even scored in OT--the first of his career and third game-winner. He has an upper-body injury, according to Bednar.
"He's a little sore this morning," Bednar said. "He went for some further evaluation."
If Compher can't play on Sunday, the Avs may go back to the non-traditional lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen, but Bednar said the final determination of his alignment won't be made until the day of the game.
The Avalanche held an optional practice on Saturday morning at Family Sports Center, with only six forwards, three defensemen and goaltender Jonathan Bernier participating.
Semyon Varlamov is expected to make his sixth straight start in net for the Avalanche on Sunday and continue his solid play between the pipes as of late.

While Varlamov presently owns fairly average season marks of a 13-9-2 record, 2.94 goals-against average and .909 save percentage overall, he has been much better recently. The netminder is 4-1-1 with a 2.15 goals-against average and .930 save percentage in his last six starts.
"I liked the way he's playing. He's feeling healthy. He's feeling like he can play more games," Bednar said of Varlamov. "He's playing well in our games. He's giving us a chance to win every night. I think he is only going to get better and better as the season goes on.
"He's hitting his stride and he's getting our team wins, which is the most important thing."
The Avalanche is 1-1-0 so far on its season-long, six-game homestand, and Bednar was pleased with the bounce-back effort his squad showed after dropping the opener to the Arizona Coyotes.
"You love to get the two points, but the way we responded after a poor game against Arizona, our focus and determination was really good," he said. "The first period was as good a period defensively as we've played for some time against a real powerful, offensive team."
Colorado's matchup with New York will mark the fifth consecutive year the team has hosted a New Year's Eve game, and it has gone 2-1-1 in those contests.
Overall, the Avalanche has had quite some success against the Islanders at home, owning an 11-2-3 record since moving to Denver in 1995.