Jets Provide Tough Task For Colorado

For the second time in less than two weeks, the Colorado Avalanche will play the division-rival Winnipeg Jets away from Pepsi Center.
Tonight's matchup won't be easy as Winnipeg has the fourth best home record in the league, going 21-5-2 at Bell MTS Place.
"This is a tough building to come in and win," said Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar after morning skate. "We are having some trouble winning in here, and there are a lot of teams that are coming in and [having trouble]. It's one of the top teams in our conference and you have to be at your best to play these guys."

The contest will be the eighth in a row at home for the Jets, who have gone 4-2-1 so far on their 10-game homestand and won 3-0 versus the Avalanche on Feb. 3 in the third game of the stretch.
Goaltender Semyon Varlamov stopped 29-of-31 shots in that outing in his return from a lower-body injury, but Colorado could not generate enough scoring chances and was shutout for the second time this season. Tonight, the Avalanche will have Jonathan Bernier between the pipes.
"I didn't mind portions of our game last time we were here. We gave up an early power-play goal, which got us chasing the game a little bit," Bednar said. "We were down, but late in the second period it was still 1-0. So, defending was okay but we didn't do enough to get to the front of the net. It's a tough team to get in front of the net on. I would have liked to see us get more traffic and get some shots and have more chances.
The offense will need to be sharp for Colorado as Winnipeg is sixth in the NHL in goals allowed, having only given up 152 tallies in 57 outings this season. The Avalanche has netted the ninth- most goals in the league so far this campaign with 175 through 56 outings.
"We have to be tough to play against them, and we can be, it's just that we work in a different way," said Bednar. "I think the biggest thing for us is that we have to use our pace and our speed to create more pressure all over the ice."
Veteran forward Blake Comeau will return to game action and his spot on a line with Carl Soderberg and Matt Nieto after missing the Avs' last three games with a lower-body injury.
"No. 1 thing to me is we want to be rested, that's why we had an optional skate yesterday," Bednar said. "We need to have our legs underneath us to be tough to play against them. We have to have extra play here tonight because again, this is a real good team. Not only are they big and strong, but they're fast as well. We have to find a way to make our speed an issue for them tonight."
Nail Yakupov and Duncan Siemens are expected to be Colorado's healthy scratches in the contest.