Eurolanche

Avs looking for more consistency

The Colorado Avalanche (11-16-1) hosts the Florida Panthers (13-13-5) for the club's second meeting of the 2016-17 campaign. Colorado is 17-7-5 all-time against Florida and 7-4-3 on home ice. The Avalanche has won four of the last six meetings against the Panthers at Pepsi Center.

Last Time Out

Colorado returned to Pepsi Center after a four-game road trip and fell 4-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday. After a scoreless opening period, the Flyers were first to find the back of the net. The Avalanche responded with goals from Rene Bourque and Matt Duchene, but the Flyers scored the next three and held a 4-2 lead. Duchene buried his second goal of the night to bring the Avs within one with less than five minutes remaining, but they could not find the equalizer despite a strong push late.

"We don't really have time to be negative here or feel sorry for ourselves," said forward Mikhail Grigorenko after practice on Thursday. "Obviously, we didn't get the job done [Wednesday]. There are a lot positives, and we need to take those positives into tomorrow's game and try to win."

Florida will close a three-game road trip after dropping its first two. It plays Colorado on the second half of a back-to-back after falling 4-3 in a shootout to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. 

The Panthers took a 3-2 lead into the third period off goals from Aleksander Barkov, Reilly Smith and Vincent Trocheck, but the Jets rallied in the fame frame, tallying the equalizer less than three minutes in and ultimately winning the tiebreaking shootout.

Last Time They Met

Colorado fell 5-2 to Florida on Oct. 22 at the BB&T Center. Blake Comeau got the Avs off to a good start with a power-play goal for the only marker in the opening stanza.

The Panthers bounced back and scored four straight goals, including two tallies from rookie Shane Harper to take control of the game. Semyon Varlamov made 33 saves on the night.

"We didn't have our best effort when we were down there early in the season," recalled defenseman Patrick Wiercioch on Thursday. "I know it feels like a while back, but that could have shifted our start to that one game above coming back. I feel like we owe them. I think we know that as a team that we have to come out hungry."

What To Watch

Faceoffs & Special Teams

Colorado is second in the league in faceoffs with a 53.1 win percentage on draws. The Panthers' penalty kill is ranked fifth in the league with an 85.1-percent success rate overall and is 86.2 percent on the road, which could pose a challenge for an Avalanche team that has only scored 15 power-play goals this season. 

First Period

Colorado is 6-2-0 when scoring first, while the Panthers have recorded 25 markers in the opening period and are tied for eighth in goals for the first 20 minutes.

Home-Road Split

The Avs are 4-9-1 on home ice and the Panthers are 5-8-5 on the road as both teams are working to find consistency.

Players to Watch

Colorado: Center Matt Duchene  

Duchene recorded two tallies in the game against Philadelphia on Wednesday and has six points (five goals and one assist) in the last five contests. He is now seventh in franchise history in goals with 168, moving past Alex Tanguay.

Florida: Center Alesksander Barkov  

The 21-year-old center leads the team with 21 points and 14 assists. Barkov has recorded five points in the past five games, including a goal in Florida's shootout loss on Thursday.  

Lineup Notes

The Panthers are missing Jonathan Marchessault, who leads the team with 10 goals and is second with 20 points, from their lineup as he's out with a lower-body injury. He had an unassisted goal in the Panthers' 5-2 win back on Oct. 22.

Right wing Jaromir Jagr needs three points to reach 1,887 and pass Mark Messier for second place on the NHL's all-time career points list. Jagr has six goals and 10 assists this season. He leads all active players with 1,884 points, while Colorado's Jarome Iginla is two spots behind him, coming in third with 1,280 points.

Calvin Pickard will start between the pipes for the second consecutive game while Semyon Varlamov is still recovering from a minor groin injury and is considered day-to-day. Martin was recalled from the San Antonio Rampage on Tuesday and will back up Pickard for his second game.

"When we play our game, we can keep up with anyone," said Pickard. "We should take that into [the game versus] Florida, and hopefully we get a better result."

The Details

The puck drops at 7 p.m. MT at the Pepsi Center, and the game will be broadcasted live on Altitude. Fans can listen to the contest on Altitude Sports Radio AM 950 or at ColoradoAvalanche.com.

-- by Heather Ward for ColoradoAvalanche.com --