Eurolanche

Holtby could resume quest for record

Season series: The Washington Capitals defeated the Colorado Avalanche 7-3 at Verizon Center on Nov. 21. Evgeny Kuznetsov had a goal and two assists, and Jason Chimera had three assists for Washington. Nathan MacKinnon scored for Colorado.

Capitals team scope: Goalie Braden Holtby is two wins shy of tying Martin Brodeur's NHL single-season record of 48; Holtby is 3-0-1 with a .963 save percentage and 0.98 goals-against average in his past four starts, including a 2-1 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday. Holtby and Philipp Grubauer are likely to split back-to-back games against the Avalanche and Arizona Coyotes on Saturday. Washington lost 41 of 69 faceoffs (59 percent) against Philadelphia and was 18th in the NHL at 49.8 percent before games Thursday. "I think everyone needs to help out to win draws," center Nicklas Backstrom told CSN Mid-Atlantic. "Puck possession is important and it's something we need to work on." Washington can set a Capitals record for regulation and overtime wins in a season; they had 50 in 1985-86.

 Avalanche team scope: Center Matt Duchene (knee) practiced Thursday and is expected to return after missing six games. "I feel good," Duchene told The Denver Post. "I think I'm ready to go. I skated hard the last four days, five days actually now. ... I'm looking forward to it." Duchene is Colorado's leading scorer with 29 goals and 56 points. MacKinnon, who is out with a knee injury, has yet to skate and is expected to miss the final five games. The Avalanche are five points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Minnesota also has five games remaining. "We just have to win our games," Duchene said. "[Minnesota has] won six in a row. Hopefully that levels out and they'll go downhill a little bit. But they're playing well. We can't control that. We can only control what we can control, and that's tomorrow night against Washington."

-- by Joseph Calabrese for NHL.com --