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Avalanche look to continue dominance of Blue Jackets

Dec 5, 2007 - 2:25 PM Colorado (14-11-1) at Columbus (12-10-5) 7:00 pm EST

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ticker) - The Colorado Avalanche have not had much success on the road, but that may not matter when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday.

The Avalanche are 4-8-1 away from home this year, but they have won five straight in Columbus and are 10-0-1 all-time here. Overall, Colorado has won 22 of 24 meetings with Columbus.

The Avalanche may be without second-leading scorer Joe Sakic, who has missed the past two games because of a groin injury. The veteran, who has seven goals and 22 points, recorded a hat trick in the last meeting between the teams - a 5-1 win on October 13.

Columbus has lost three of four, but received a boost when goaltender Pascal Leclaire returned from injury Monday and stopped 33 shots in a 2-1 loss to Dallas. Leclaire, who leads the league with six shutouts, had missed two games with a groin injury.

Part of the Blue Jackets struggles can be traced to the fact that star left wing Rick Nash has not scored in the last five games. The first overall pick of the 2002 draft, Nash leads Columbus with 29 points.

This is the second game of a five-game homestand for Columbus, which is 7-3-3 here this season.