The Boys Are Back in Town

Talk about a successful road trip. The Avalanche went 4-2-1 4-1-2 during their 7 game stretch away from the Pepsi Center and are coming home with some pretty great stories to tell. Craig Anderson is not only a number 1 goalie, he’s doing it every night. Matt Duchene not only scored his first NHL goal, but did so during a game where the Avs made Chris Osgood and the Red Wings look silly.

But now that the trip is over, the team gets a couple games at home before heading off again for four more games. Seems like a perfect time to give Andy some rest right?

Nope.

Even though Peter Budaj was supposed to start, he’s out with the flu. Tyler Weiman was called up from Lake Erie but will ride the pine as Anderson gets his 8th straight start. That streak will most likely extend to 9 when the Avs play the Red Wings on Saturday. The whole reason for starting Budaj tonight was to give #41 some rest before playing Detroit, but now that’s out of the question since Boods is sick. What did Tyler Weiman do to deserve this kind of treatment from the Avs? At this point, it seems like every other goalie in the system will need to be injured before he’s considered.

Speaking of injuries, there are currently 3 other players sitting out because of various maladies. McLeod is nursing that eye after it met a stick during the Wild game. Liles is still out with a bruised shoulder and Salei is out with a back injury (I had to look that one up).

If Liles or McLeod don’t make this next road trip, don’t expect it to go as well as the first. Both have proven to be valuable members of the team so far. The only thing Salei has shown is that Sacco doesn’t like him very much. UPDATE – @rboulding has informed me that Liles himself has said he’s only going to miss another 3-4 days, which means he’ll definitely be travelling with the team.

Until then, the Avs have two teams on their hands that have some interesting stories of their own. Carolina, 2-4-2 so far this season is having difficulty in the goal scoring department, which caused a shutout against New Jersey and a loss to the Islanders. The Red Wings are having difficulty in the goalie department as I mentioned before. Osgood is on the downward slope of his ongoing career rollercoaster and the Avs need to once again capitalize on that. Their injuries are proving to be a factor as well, especially Franzen’s torn ACL.

If you have the chance, get to Pepsi Center this weekend and see a game. It’s the only chance you’ll have until two Wednesdays from now.

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On a side note, but a very important one, October is Hockey Fights Cancer month and @dani3boyz and co. over at NHLTweetup.com are trying to raise $1,000 for this very worthy cause. Please take a few moments to visit their site or donate with the handy widget I’ve added to the sidebar of the site. Thanks!