Avs win fifth straight

Matt Duchene, Brandon Yip and the rest of the burgundy bunch squeezed off their fifth straight victory as they edged out the Nashville Predators 2-1. It is the 1st time the team has won 5 in a row since October of the 2008-09 season.

Leading the charge offensively for the Avs was the rookies Matt Duchene and Brandon Yip. Duchene opened the scoring in the 1st period with another 5 on 3 PP goal. John Michael Liles made an aerial feed from the left point to Paul Stastny at the side of the net who made a nice play to bat the puck out of the air and then gave a little pass right on the stick of Duchene for an easy tap in. Duchene still leads all rookies in scoring. In the 2nd period, Yip struck, again on the PP. Darcy Tucker and recently called up Ryan Stoa made a nice give and go play where Tucker ended up with the puck. Tucker then gave a cross crease feed to Yip under the sliding Nashville defenseman for another tap in at the post. Cody Franson got the lone Nashville goal on a slapper from the left circle shortly after Yip's goal.

The Avs played again without captain Adam Foote (ankle), Ryan Wilson (concussion), Milan Hejduk (knee), and Matt Hendricks (ankle). Because of the injuries, the Avs called up D Wes O'Neil, W Ryan Stoa, and D Brett Skinner from the Lake Erie Monsters. Skinner was the healthy scratch while O'Neil and Stoa received jerseys for the game.

Three Stars

3. C. Franson

2. B. Yip

1. M. Duchene.

Duchene vs. Tavares

Tonight will be the first and only time this season that the top 2 forwards taken in the 09 draft will face each other. Matt Duchene and number 1 pick John Tavares go head to head tonight when the New York Islanders make a rare visit to Denver to take on the Avs.

Should be an interesting matchup between the skilled 18 year olds. Tavares is leading all rookies in goals scored and points but right behind him is Matt Duchene. Tavares is at 28 points on the season and Duchene just a point behind with 27. Both players are headed in opposite directions as Tavares has just 1 goal in his last 11 games while Duchene has been on fire with 17 points over his last 18 games.

Andy will be in net tonight for the Avs while the Isles will go with longtime division rival Dwayne Roloson. Backing up Roloson for the 1st time will be former number 1 pick Rick DiPietro. Hopefully the Avs will get to face him at some point tonight.