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Avs, Oilers seek to end respective slides in clash at Edmonton

Dec 30, 2010 - 3:57 PM (Sports Network) - The Colorado Avalanche will try to avoid a fourth straight loss this evening as they visit Rexall Place to battle the Edmonton Oilers, who are in the midst of their own four-game slide.

The Avalanche dropped the final three contests of a five-game homestand to finish up the stay 2-2-1. Their current slide comes on the heels of a six-game winning streak.

Colorado did get a point last time out on Monday, falling to Detroit, 4-3. Peter Budaj made 26 saves but also took a tripping penalty in overtime that helped set up the Red Wings' game-winning power-play goal.

"When you give up a power play in overtime to such good players as [the Red Wings] they're going to [capitalize]," Budaj said.

T.J. Galiardi scored and Matt Duchene tallied twice to give him six goals in his past seven games. The second-year skater has 15 goals on the season after notching 24 as a rookie.

Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk was hit in the face by a puck in Monday's game, but did eventually return to action. He is questionable for this game as he isn't expected to play unless his facial swelling goes down.

Colorado will play its next two on the road, where it has won three straight and is 9-6-3 this season.

Edmonton lost the opener of a five-game homestand on Tuesday for its sixth loss in seven games. The Oilers were defeated by the Sabres, 4-2, despite scoring the game's first goal just 1:27 in. Dustin Penner's early tally put the Oilers in front, Ryan Jones also scored and Nikolai Khabibulin made just 17 saves as the Sabres slowly took over control.

"This is the way the season is. As much as we don't like it, we're still going to see this occasionally," said Edmonton bench boss Tom Renney. "What we have to do is limit the number of times this happens moving forward. Not just to games, but to periods and even periods of periods.

"In other words, shorten the look of this kind of stuff as much as we possibly can and grow up in a hurry and get back to being a good hockey team."

Edmonton did lose leading scorer Ryan Whitney to a right ankle injury and he could end up on injured reserve. The blueliner is tops on the club with 25 assists and 27 points.

Khabibulin has faced the Avs just twice since joining Edmonton, splitting the two games while allowing five goals on 70 shots. He did not see action when the clubs met for the first time this year on Nov. 25, a 3-2 Oilers win.

The victory was the Oilers fourth in the past six meetings and third straight in Edmonton in this series.

Duchene had a goal and an assist, giving him four goals and five helpers in seven career games against the Oilers.

Craig Anderson is likely to start in net tonight for the Avs and has allowed five goals in three of his last six starts. He is 5-3-0 with a tie and 2.32 goals-against average lifetime when facing Edmonton.

Forward Gilbert Brule is expected to return to action tonight for the Oilers after missing the last four games with the flu. Rookie Linus Omark will likely be scratched to compensate for Brule's return.