Avalanche battles Calgary for first place

The Colorado Avalanche is looking to regain first place in the NHL’s Northwest Division when it takes on the Flames Monday night at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary. Opening face-off is at 8PM. The game will be televised on Altitude 2. Radio is 1510 AM.
This is the fourth game of six between these teams this season. The Avalanche has won all three of the previous games by 3-2 scores. The last two games of the series will be played in Denver, March 17th and April 2nd.

Calgary Flames 26-14-5 57 points 6-3-1 in last 10 games.
1st place in Northwest Division
3rd place in Western Conference

The Flames regained sole possession of first place in the Northwest Division with a 3-2 victory in Vancouver Saturday night.
Jarome Iginla leads the Flames in scoring, as well as almost every other offensive category. He has 21 goals and 21 assists for 42 points, although he is pointless in his last three games. Rene Bourque is second on the team in scoring with 16 goals and 20 assists for 36 points. Bourque has a 2 game goal scoring streak.
Mikka Kiprusoff is Calgary’s top netminder. His 23-11-5 record has him ranked 4th in the NHL in victories. Kiprusoff has won 5 of his last 6 games.
NOTE
-The Flames Jay Bouwmeester has the longest current NHL Ironman streak, having played in 387 consecutive games.

Colorado Avalanche 25-15-6 56 points 6-4-0 in last 10 games
Tied for 2nd in Northwest Division
Tied for 5th in Western Conference

Monday’s game wraps up a three game, cross-continental road trip for the Avs. They are 1-1 on the trip, losing in Carolina Friday and winning in Buffalo Saturday in an 11 round shootout.
Paul Stastny leads the Avalanche in scoring with 9 goals and 32 assists for 41 points. In second place is Wojtek Wolski with 15 goals, 23 assists for 38 points. Rookie Matt Duchene has moved into a tie for third place in team scoring with Milan Hejduk at 29 points each.
The Avs number one goaltender is Craig Anderson. He is ranked 9th in the NHL with a 21-11-5 record.
NOTES
-This season Colorado is 3-0 against Calgary, 3-7-2 against the rest of the Northwest Division.
-Although the Avs Matt Duchene is tied for the lead in NHL rookie scoring, he has yet to get a point against the Flames this season.
-Opponents are out shooting the Avalanche by an average of almost six shots per game.
-Captain Adam Foote will miss Monday’s game with an ankle injury. He has returned to Denver.
-Rookie Brandon Yip has a three game point streak with 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points. He did not score in his first two NHL games, but has 5 goals and 3 assists for 8 points in the 8 games since.
-Monday’s game will be the third in four nights for the Avs. They have the next four days off, then resume play Saturday afternoon at home against the New Jersey Devils.

Bruce Wilkie is a Colorado semi-native, having moved to Denver in 1971. He has worked with pro and college hockey teams since 1975 and now covers the Avs for thehockeywriters.com.