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Oilers-Avalanche Preview

Nov 7, 2009 - 7:34 PM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Edmonton (7-8-1) at Colorado (12-3-2), 8:00 p.m. EDT

The Colorado Avalanche have matched a franchise record for consecutive home wins to start a season, and they have a good chance to break that mark given the Edmonton Oilers' play on the road.

The Avalanche and goaltender Craig Anderson look to hand the Oilers a sixth straight road loss Sunday when the Northwest division rivals meet for the second time this season.

Colorado (12-3-2) improved to 6-0 at the Pepsi Center with a 4-3 shootout victory over Chicago on Friday. Ryan O'Reilly scored twice for the Avalanche, David Jones added a short-handed goal and Chris Stewart had the winning goal in the shootout.

Anderson continued his outstanding season with 29 saves, and he made seven stops in the shootout. The free agent acquisition is 11-3-2 with a 2.15 goals-against average.

"He gives us a chance to win every night and he did it again tonight," Avalanche coach Joe Sacco said.

The Avalanche also started 6-0 at home two seasons ago and in 1994-95 in their final season in Quebec.

Anderson has shut out the Oilers (7-8-1) in his last two starts against them, including a 3-0 victory Oct. 27. Wojtek Wolski scored twice for Colorado and Anderson made 25 saves.

The Avalanche have been one of the league's biggest surprises so far with 26 points to lead the Northwest. They had a Western Conference-low 69 last season.

"It is still early but you would rather be here now then at the end of the year," Stewart said. "We have to compete every game, and it is a long season."

Edmonton has scored a total of three goals in losing three straight as it begins a five-game road trip. The Oilers haven't outshot an opponent since the first game of the season, and were outshot 39-28 against the Rangers in a 4-2 loss Thursday.

"We've got guys who are supposed to be scorers that don't put the puck anywhere near the net. That's the disappointing part," coach Pat Quinn said. "You don't get many goals if you don't shoot it."

The Oilers won their first road game, 6-1 at Nashville on Oct. 12 before losing the next five. They have scored one goal in their last three road contests.

"Sometimes it works in your favor when you get on the road. When you can get the guys together and get more of a positive energy surrounding our team," captain Ethan Moreau told the Oilers' official Web site. "It's worked to our advantage in the past and hopefully that's the case."

The Oilers have won their last two games in Denver, including an 8-1 win March 19 in their last visit. That was the Avalanche's most-lopsided regular-season home loss since moving from Quebec to Colorado in 1995.