Avs Looking To Build On Good Things Against Bruins

BOSTON--Despite not being able to pull out the victory on Tuesday night in Nashville, the Colorado Avalanche did a lot of good things. The Avs' power play tallied two goals, they limited easy scoring chances against and stayed fairly disciplined.
They'll look to build off those successes and translate that into a win this evening against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.

"You want to make it a second game in a row where you feel good and you work hard," said alternate captain and defenseman Francois Beauchemin. "Eventually we're going to get out of [this rut]. It's tough to stay positive, but you've got to find some and move on."
Colorado came back three times to tie the contest in the 4-3 loss in Nashville and was buzzing around the opposing net and getting good looks in the final minutes to try and knot the outing once more.

The Avs went 2-for-4 on the man advantage, while the Predators went 1-for-5. However, that one goal ended up being the game-winning dagger as it came at the end of a full two-minute 5-on-3 power play early in the third period.
"It was a hard-fought game from all of our guys. Our effort and compete was really good," Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar reflected this morning. "We made a couple mistakes. It was a tough way to lose. You take two penalties in the same shift and end up losing it on a 5-on-3 goal. We continued to push after that and create some chances, just couldn't find a way to get one past [Pekka] Rinne in the third period."

Goaltender Calvin Pickard will make his eighth start of the season for the Avalanche tonight and will be making his first-ever appearance against the Original Six Bruins, who defeated Colorado 2-0 earlier this season on Nov. 13.
"Lot of history in this building and this city, and they've been very successful," Pickard said. "They beat us in our rink, so we're looking to return the favor tonight. We want to build off last game--we did a lot of good things against Nashville--and put together a full 60 here in Boston tonight."
Colorado is in a tough stretch right now, going 0-5-1 in its last six contests. The squad is trying to stay positive, knowing things will hopefully turnaround soon.
If the Avs continue to work hard and keep doing good things, they'll eventually be rewarded with points in the standings.
"Obviously, it's a tough thing to go through, but we're trying to stay positive, trying to get better every night," Beauchemin said. "I thought last game was a good game for us, just a couple of bounces went against us, but I think overall we played a pretty good game. So that's one thing we can build off."

Game time this evening is set for 5 p.m. MT. The second contest of the curren four-game road trip will be televised on Altitude while KOOL FM 105.1 will have the radio broadcast.
Tonight will be the second half of a back-to-back set for the Bruins. Boston fell 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday evening in Washington, D.C.

OPTIONAL MORNING SKATE

While most of the players made their way to TD Garden on Thursday morning, about half of them actually took the ice for an optional pregame skate.
According to head coach Jared Bednar, the reason behind the decision was because the team had a good practice on Wednesday and some players were ill.
"Just wanted to make sure everyone is feeling their best and they know what they got to do to get ready for tonight," Bednar said. "Some guys went on, some guys just did some maintenance work and other guys are still back at the hotel. So whatever we got to do to try and get a win here tonight."
Colorado is currently carrying 21 players on its active roster, but Bednar doesn't seem overly worried that he'll have to field less than the maximum 18 skaters and two goaltenders allowed by each club.
"It sounds like they're all going to be able to go," Bednar said. "I'm worried about someone else coming down with it before we start here, so it's a little bit of a concern, but we'll catch up with all of them, see how they're feeling and then manage their minutes accordingly."
Tyson Barrie, Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon were the four players that were sick and missed Wednesday's practice. However, Duchene and Landeskog were the only two that felt good enough to skate today.

LANDESKOG WON'T PLAY, COULD RETURN IN MONTREAL

Gabriel Landeskog won't be in the Avalanche's lineup for a 10th consecutive game Thursday night, but the captain could be ready to go Saturday in Montreal.
Landeskog, who has been out with a lower-body injury, was on the ice today for morning skate.
"I think he's progressing every day, and it's just a matter of getting on the ice enough and keep testing that to make sure he's 100 percent when he comes back," Bednar said.
The forward was supposed to take part in a full practice on Wednesday, and if everything went well he could have played against the Bruins. Getting sick pushed that timetable back. Landeskog last played Nov. 15 versus the Los Angeles Kings.
Also, defenseman Fedor Tyutin, who was also out with a lower-body injury, will play tonight after missing the past two games.