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Avs want to make point vs. Wings

Colorado has lost past seven games against Detroit

Jim Benton, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 20, 2007 at midnight

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CENTENNIAL - It's a fact Avalanche fans don't like to ponder: the Detroit Red Wings seem to have Colorado's number in recent years.

The Red Wings have beaten the Avalanche in seven consecutive games, nine of the past 10 and 20 of the past 26.

Colorado's previous win against the Red Wings was a 5-2 victory Feb. 14, 2004, in Detroit.

The teams will renew their rivalry tonight when the Red Wings meet the Avalanche (7, Altitude) at the Pepsi Center in the final game before the five-day All-Star break.

The game will mark the 500th sellout since the franchise moved to Colorado in 1995.

"We've had some good games against them," Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said. "The last three homes games we've had against them, without winning a game, the games were on the line throughout.

"They are playing very well. It will be a good challenge for us. We're looking to break that streak."

Detroit entered Friday's game in Columbus with a five-game winning streak but fell 3-1. The Red Wings are four points behind Nashville in the Central.

"(The Red Wings) are a tough team," defenseman Brett Clark said. "They are a very skilled team. We battle them hard every game. What we do is shoot ourselves in the foot with mistakes. They are a transition team and work with anything we give them.

"So if we can keep the puck out of the middle of the ice and along the boards and in their end, it will make a difference in the outcome of the game. Any turnover, and they have four guys jumping and the 'D' is jumping, and we can't have that during the course of the game. They seem to burn us every game. We just got to keep our game simple."

Many people believe the intense, bitter rivalry between the teams has diminished, but Quenne-ville says fans still are passionate when the teams play.

"The last game with them in this building (a 3-2 shootout loss Jan. 9), the building was alive," he said. "Every shot at the net, people were either holding their breath or it hit the post. Their response was amazing.

"It's going to be just like that tonight. The 500th sellout is going to be a great environment. (The rivalry is) still there, it still exists. The Avalanche fans have been very supportive throughout the years, but you can sense that there is a different building when Detroit comes to town."

The game tonight is the second of a stretch in which Colorado will play eight of nine games at home.

The Avalanche, which defeated Phoenix 4-3 on Wednesday at the Pepsi Center, is 10th in the Western Conference standings and needs to start gaining ground to make the playoffs. The top eight teams in the Western Conference qualify for the playoffs.

"We have a homestand here and we have to place a premium on getting points," Quenneville said. "We're coming off a pretty good game against them last time, and it would be nice to go into the break on a positive note.

"This homestand is where we have to make hay because being one or two games above .500 (12-10-2) isn't going to get it done at home. We have to be more efficient at home because our road record (11-10-1) has put us in a good spot, so we have to take care of business at home."

Red Wings at Avalanche

• When: 7 tonight.

• Where: Pepsi Center.

• TV/radio: Altitude; KKFN-AM (950).

• Leading scorers:

Detroit (30-13-5) G A P

C Pavel Datsyuk 13 32 45

LW H. Zetterberg 19 21 40

D Nicklas Lidstrom 10 29 39

C Robert Lang 12 22 34

D M. Schneider 7 25 32

Coach: Mike Babcock

Colo. (23-20-3) G A P

C Joe Sakic 19 32 51

LW A. Brunette 16 25 41

C Paul Stastny 13 24 37

LW Wojtek Wolski 16 16 32

C Tyler Arnason 11 20 31

Coach: Joel Quenneville

• Injuries: Colorado - LW Brad May (shoulder surgery), D Jordan Leopold (groin), D John-Michael Liles (broken foot) and D Patrice Brisebois (back) are out. Detroit - RW Tomas Kopecky (broken collarbone), D Jiri Fischer (heart abnormality) are out. D Mathieu Schneider (sprained knee) is day to day.

• Sidelight: Tonight's sellout will be the 500th for the Avalanche since the team moved to Denver in 1995. Included among the sellouts was a streak of 487 consecutive sellouts from Nov. 9, 1995, to Oct. 14, 2006. Detroit has sold out 434 consecutive home games at Joe Louis Arena.

• Notes: Detroit's five-game winning streak ended Friday night with a 3-1 loss to Columbus . . . Lidstrom leads the NHL's plus/minus statistics, at plus 31 . . . Red Wings goalie Dominik Hasek went into action Friday second in the league in goals-against average (2.00), third in wins (25) and second in shutouts (six) . . . Detroit's 2.30 goals- against average is the second best in the NHL. Colorado's 2.88 team goals-against average ranks 15th . . . Peter Budaj will start his 11th consecutive game in the net tonight for Colorado.