Avalanche 2 - 1 Kings
Final - 2OT
  for this game

Avs hope to stay rolling against Kings

Jan 2, 2012 - 3:59 PM (Sports Network) - The Colorado Avalanche are so hot right now that even a road trip couldn't slow the them down over the weekend.

Coming off the best December in club history, the Avalanche look to win a third straight game this evening in a matchup with the Pacific Division- leading Los Angeles Kings.

Colorado has won seven of its last eight games and its 10 victories in December set a new club mark for the most wins in the month. Of the Avalanche's five losses last month, four came on the road but they have won two straight as the guest since a nine-game road slide.

The Avs began a four-game swing on Saturday with a 4-2 victory over the Ducks. Milan Hejduk scored twice and Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 18 saves in his first game back in Anaheim since getting traded to Toronto on Jan. 31, 2010.

"I've got many memories here. I was a little nervous," said Giguere. "It's been two years. but at the same time it was exciting. The most important thing is we got two points."

Kyle Quincey and Chuck Kobasew both scored in the second period for the Avalanche, who played their first game since forward Matt Duchene suffered a knee injury that is expected to sideline him for a month.

The Kings have won five of their last seven and improved to 4-0-2 under Darryl Sutter since he took over as head coach for the fired Terry Murray. Justin Williams had a goal and an assist to pace Los Angeles to a 4-1 victory over the Canucks on Saturday.

Anze Kopitar snapped a career-worst 17-game goal drought as the Kings moved to 10-0-0 when scoring three-plus goals. Matt Greene and Brad Richardson also scored and Jonathan Quick made 27 saves.

"Our confidence is up but it's still a work in progress," said Greene. "We got a big goal out of our third line and that got us going. It's a big win against a very good team."

The Kings are on top a very tight Pacific Division with 44 points. That is one up on the Stars and two ahead of both the Sharks and Coyotes.

Los Angeles won the opener of a six-game homestand and has won its last three at home.

The Kings swept their four-game season series with the Avalanche a season ago, but the Avalanche snapped a five-game series slide with a 3-2 home win on Oct. 30. Los Angeles has still won four straight at home versus Colorado.






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