Avs return home to face Brodeur, Devils

The Colorado Avalanche will aim to take sole possession of first place in the NHL’s Northwest Division when they host the New Jersey Devils Saturday afternoon. Face off is at 1PM at the Pepsi Center. The game can be seen on Altitude and may be heard on 1510 AM.

This is the only meeting this season between these teams.
The Devils won last year’s game 4-0 in Newark.

New Jersey Devils 32-12-1 65 points 6-4-0 in last 10 games
1st place in Atlantic Division
1st place in Eastern Conference
This is the 4th of 5 straight road games for the Devils. They started the trip with a 2-1 victory in Montreal last Saturday, then beat the New York Rangers Tuesday 1-0 in a shootout that featured a combined 96 shots. Thursday saw the Devils lose 4-3 in Phoenix. They’ll finish up the “road” trip Monday against the New York Islanders.
The Devils are led by goaltender Martin Brodeur. He is the NHL’s all-time leader in wins and shutouts, among other categories. His 29-12-1 record this season leads the league
Top scorers for New Jersey are Zach Parise with 20 goals and 27 assists for 47 points, and Jamie Langenbrunner with 13 goals and 28 assists for 41 points.

Colorado Avalanche 26-15-6 58 points 6-4-0 in last 10 games.
1st place in Northwest Division
3rd place in Western Conference
This game begins a stretch that has the Avs playing 11 out of 13 games at home leading up to the Olympic break. Colorado returns home after winning the final 2 games of their 3 game road trip. Their latest game was a 3-2 shootout victory in Calgary that moved the Avs into first place in the Northwest Division. And with the Flames home loss to Nashville Friday, the Avalanche can take sole possession of the division lead with a win Saturday.
Leading the Avs in scoring is Paul Stastny who has 10 goals and 33 assists for 43 points. Next is Wojtek Wolski with 15 goals and 24 assists, 39 points.
Craig Anderson is Colorado’s top goalie with a 22-11-5 record.
NOTES
-The Avs have had the last four days off.
-Brett Clark is expected to return to the lineup after missing four games with a facial injury.
-Chris Stewart has 3 goals and an assist in his last 4 games.
-Claude Lemieux will become the 7th member of the Avalanche Alumni Association in a pre-game ceremony. He was on the Avs 1996 Stanley Cup Championship team. He won 2 Cups with the Devils and 1 with Montreal.

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.