Avs end home stand against Florida

The Colorado Avalanche will look to end their home stand on a positive note when they host the Florida Panthers Thursday at the Pepsi Center. Game time is
7PM. The game will be telecast on Altitude. 1510 AM will have the radio broadcast.

This is the second game between these teams. Florida won the last game December 2nd, 6-5.

Florida Panthers 37-23-6 64 points Last 10 games 3-6-1
4th place in Southeast Division
12th place in Eastern Conference

This is game two of a three game road trip for Florida.

The Panthers have won their last three games, the latest a 3-2 shootout victory in Minnesota. They are six points out of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Leading scorer for the Panthers is Stephen Weiss with 50 points. Second is Nathan Horton who has 46 points.

Tomas Vokoun is Florida’s top goalie. His record is 22-21-10.

Colorado Avalanche 37-23-6 points Last 10 games 6-4-0.
2nd place in Northwest Division
6th place in Western Conference

This game ends a three game home stand for Colorado. They have split the first two.

The Avs suffered a setback Tuesday, blowing a three goal lead twice to lose to the rival Vancouver Canucks.
With the Canucks getting a point in a shoot out loss in Phoenix Wednesday, the Avs now trail by 5 points in the Northwest Division.

The Avs leading scorer is Paul Stastny, who has 63 points. Second is Chris Stewart with 52 points.

Craig Anderson is Colorado’s top goalie and a prime reason the Avs are still in playoff contention. His record is 33-19-5.
Anderson will make the start Thursday against his former team. In the December game between these teams Anderson was injured when he was run into by the Panthers Keith Ballard. He missed four games, his only extended absence of the season.
Thursday will be Anderson’s 22nd consecutive start.

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.