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Avalanche turn to Brunette in latest battle vs. Oilers

Feb 3, 2007 - 3:10 PM Edmonton (25-23-4) at Colorado (25-22-4) 3:00 pm EST

DENVER (Ticker) -- Andrew Brunette has fond memories of his last time he faced the Edmonton Oilers.

Brunette tries to lead the Colorado Avalanche to just their second victory in five games Saturday when they face the Oilers for the sixth time this season.

The 33-year-old Brunette scored three times with the man advantage for his first career hat trick to lead the Avalanche to a 7-6 victory over the Oilers on December 19. The team's second-leading scorer has 19 goals and 46 points.

Colorado is coming off Thursday's 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild in the second contest of a five-game homestand. In addition to Brunette's latest tally, Marek Svatos scored his 11th goal and Milan Hejduk collected two assists.

Tied with the Avalanche for fourth place in the Northwest Division - eight points behind first-place Vancouver - the Oilers have split their four games since the All-Star break.

The Oilers will be looking to rebound from Thursday's 5-3 loss to the Canucks. Joffrey Lupul netted his 14th goal and Ales Hemsky had a pair of assists for Edmonton.

Edmonton will likely be without Jarret Stoll, who suffered a fractured nose Thursday. He is fourth on the team in scoring, with 13 goals and 26 assists.