Eurolanche

Predators aim to rebound at home vs Avs

Season series: Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves for his fourth shutout of the season to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-0 win against the Nashville Predators in their most-recent game on Jan. 30 at Pepsi Center. Nashville had won each of the previous two games, with Pekka Rinne recording a shutout of his own on Dec. 9 and Craig Smith beating Varlamov for the overtime-winner on Jan. 27.

Avalanche team scope (26-23-11): Colorado is currently in last place in the Central Division, but in the tight Western Conference playoff race the Avalanche are six points out of the final wild-card spot. Colorado still faces long odds to crack the West's top eight, but has helped its cause significantly by winning four of its past five games while averaging 3.80 goals per game over that span. On Sunday, Nathan MacKinnon snapped a 13-game goal-scoring drought with the first Colorado hat trick in more than three years in a 5-4 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. "To score a couple feels good," MacKinnon said. "If we didn't get the two points, it would be meaningless." If Colorado is to climb back into the playoff picture, its final three games before the NHL Trade Deadline will be pivotal; all three games come against division opponents.

Predators team scope: The Predators return home after struggling on a three-game East Coast road trip. Nashville's only win on the stretch came in the shootout against the Buffalo Sabres , who currently sit at the bottom of the NHL standings. Prior to that trip, the Predators had won six games in a row and grabbed the lead in the Presidents' Trophy race. Nashville has now gone three games without a regulation victory. Despite the recent slump, the Predators still have the top mark in the League.

-- by David Kalan for NHL.com --