Eurolanche

Avs return home to face Blackhawks

Season series: The Colorado Avalanche won four of five games against the Chicago Blackhawks last season, including a 3-2 overtime win at United Center on Jan. 14. Tyson Barrie and Ryan O'Reilly led Colorado with three goals each.

Blackhawks team scope: Forward Andrew Shaw will return to the lineup, and Corey Crawford will start in goal, according to coach Joel Quenneville. Shaw missed three games with an upper-body injury. Backup goalie Antti Raanta practiced Tuesday after being limited the past few days because of illness. He was supposed to start Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers, but felt sick at the morning skate. "Of course it was disappointing. You're feeling pretty bad and then you don't get in the game, so it was a tough weekend for me," Raanta told the Blackhawks website. "That's how life goes sometimes. I just have to get myself ready and get myself into good condition. That's the main thing now." Chicago, which leads the NHL at 90.3 percent on the penalty kill, has won five of its past seven games. Forward Kris Versteeg has a goal in three of four games and seven points during his four-game point streak.

Avalanche team scope: Colorado will look to sweep a back-to-back set, having rallied from a three-goal first-period deficit to defeat the Arizona Coyotes 4-3 on the road Tuesday. It was the second consecutive game in which the Avalanche overcame a multigoal deficit; they earned a 4-3 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Pepsi Center on Saturday after falling behind 3-1 in the first. Calvin Pickard stopped all 25 shots he faced against the Coyotes to earn a win in relief of Reto Berra for the second time in as many games. "Pickard did a really good job against Carolina the other night, and tonight, he was again perfect," coach Patrick Roy said. "You have to give it to him. He battles out there and competes and deserves a lot of credit for his play right now." Captain Gabriel Landeskog scored two goals to snap an 11-game goal drought.

-by NHL-