• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Avalanche look to sweep three-game road trip vs. Stars

Nov 20, 2006 - 5:01 PM Colorado (9-9-2) at Dallas (13-6-0) 8:00 pm EST

DALLAS (Ticker) -- A three-game road trip has provided the perfect environment for the Colorado Avalanche to turn things around.

Coming off victories at Columbus and Minnesota, the Avalanche can move above the .500 mark by completing a three-game sweep of the trip Monday against the Dallas Stars.

Prior to the trip, Colorado dropped four consecutive games, including consecutive one-goal losses at home to the Edmonton Oilers and the San Jose Sharks. It was the Avalanche's longest slide in regulation contests since 1998-1999.

However, goaltender Peter Budaj stopped 25 shots for Colorado's first shutout of the campaign in Friday's 3-0 triumph over the Blue Jackets. He followed that performance with 28 saves Saturday in a 2-1 shootout victory over the Wild.

Captain Joe Sakic scored his ninth goal in regulation and netted the clincher in the shootout, as Colorado handed Minnesota its first shootout loss in five games this season.

Opening a three-game homestand, Dallas has dropped four of its last six contests and is in third place in the highly-competitive Pacific Division.

Patrick Stefan and Jeff Halpern scored in a 46-second span of the third period and Jussi Jokinen added his fourth of the season for the Stars in Saturday's 5-4 defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Darryl Sydor scored the game-winner in overtime to give Dallas a 3-2 win over Colorado in the season opener on October 4.