Eurolanche

Hurricanes return home to host Avs

Season series: This is the second and final game between the Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche. The Hurricanes defeated the Avalanche 1-0 in overtime at Pepsi Center on Oct. 21. Cam Ward made 26 saves and Victor Rask scored 1:49 into overtime. Semyon Varlamov made 19 saves for the Avalanche.

Avalanche (3-5-1) team scope: Colorado plays the final game of its three-game road trip after splitting the first two. Varlamov made 34 saves in a 2-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday for his second victory of the season, and coach Patrick Roy said he would start on Friday. "He was solid. He made some great saves. … I am going to use him tomorrow, no doubt about that," Roy said. "He's an important player on this club and tomorrow is a good chance to win two out of three one this trip. It will be a good test for us." Jarome Iginla, Alex Tanguay and Nathan MacKinnon each had two points, accounting for all of Colorado's offense. The Avalanche ended a four-game losing streak in which they were outscored 11-5.

Hurricanes (4-6-0) team scope: Carolina returns home after going 4-3-0 on a seven-game road trip, including wins in its past two games. It's the third home game of the season for the Hurricanes; they have played eight on the road (4-4-0). "We played over .500 on the road, 4-3, and won in some tough buildings" coach Bill Peters said after a 3-2 overtime win against the New York Islanders on Thursday. "Some of the games we lost, I wasn't displeased with our effort. I was more than pleased with the trip and now we just have to make an effort as a group of 23 guys to do it each and every day." Peters didn't say if Eddie Lack, who won his first game with the Hurricanes by defeating the Islanders, or Ward would start in goal. Defenseman Ron Hainsey has scored each of the past two game-winners for the Hurricanes. "We expect to win," he said. "Flat out, we have to play more like we did in the third period tonight. ... If we play like that we'll have a very good chance."

-- by David Satriano for NHL.com --