Preview
Avalanche-Panthers Preview
Associated Press

The struggling Florida Panthers haven't had much of a home-ice advantage over the last two months. They've never had any kind of home-ice success against the Colorado Avalanche in their 14-year history.

The Panthers look to avoid losing their eighth straight home game against the Avalanche as they meet Sunday at Bank Atlantic Center.

After opening the season 5-2-0 at the Bank Atlantic Center, Florida (20-22-3) has an NHL-worst 4-9-2 home record since Nov. 9.

The Panthers lost their fifth straight home game on Saturday night, falling to Tampa Bay, 5-3. They allowed a pair of second-period goals, and have been outscored 16-6 during their current skid.

"In the second period some guys didn't compete enough," Florida coach Jacques Martin said. "(They) ended up costing us the game."

The Panthers have had even less home success against the Colorado franchise, going just 1-10-0 all-time against them at home. Florida has not beat the franchise since a 4-2 victory over the Quebec Nordiques on April 22, 1995, at Miami Arena. The Nordiques became the Avalanche the next season, and the Panthers have lost seven straight games against the Colorado club.

These teams last met in Florida on Jan. 21, 2004, as the Avalanche won 6-5.

In their only meeting last season on Feb. 6, the Avalanche beat the Panthers 5-4 in overtime. Colorado has won three straight over Florida, and six of the last seven meetings.

The Avalanche (23-18-3) beat Carolina 5-4 on Saturday, snapping a four-game road losing streak.

Colorado entered Saturday' third period down 4-2 before rallying behind two goals from Marek Svatos in just over 2 minutes.

Svatos leads the Avalanche with 19 goals, and has nine scores in his last 10 games.

"He's been on fire lately," teammate Cody McLeod said. "He's been the only one that can score, it seems."

Paul Stastny added his 16th goal, ending a career-high 10-game goal-scoring drought.

Goaltender Jose Theodore stopped 30 shots on Saturday to pick up the win. Theodore made 28 saves in last season's victory against Florida, his first game against the Panthers as a member of the Avalanche. He is 8-8-0 with three ties, a 2.41 goals-against average and two shutouts in his career against Florida.

Peter Budaj, who has posted a 2.97 GAA in losing his last three starts, has never faced the Panthers in his three-year career.

Florida goalie Tomas Vokoun, who was selected to the Eastern Conference All-Star team on Friday, stopped 20 shots on Saturday, and is just 1-6-0 with a 3.34 GAA since Dec. 28. Vokoun, in his first season with the Panthers, is 7-9-0 with one tie and a 3.21 GAA lifetime against the Avalanche.

Backup goalie Craig Anderson, who is just 1-4-1 with a 2.76 GAA, stopped 17-of-22 shots in just over 30 minutes in an 8-1 loss for Chicago in his only start against Colorado on March 22, 2003.

Florida captain Olli Jokinen scored his team-leading 22nd goal on Saturday, ending a six-game goal-scoring drought.




SCHEDULE

HOME
AWAY
PROMOTIONAL

STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39

STATS

2012-2013 REGULAR SEASON
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
P. Parenteau 48 18 25 -11 43
M. Duchene 47 17 26 -12 43
P. Stastny 40 9 15 -7 24
J. McGinn 47 11 11 -13 22
J. Mitchell 47 10 10 5 20
R. O'Reilly 29 6 14 -3 20
G. Landeskog 36 9 8 -4 17
T. Barrie 32 2 11 -11 13
C. McLeod 48 8 4 4 12
M. Hejduk 29 4 7 -7 11
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
J. Giguere 5 4 4 .908 2.84
S. Varlamov 11 21 3 .903 3.02
Avs Alert
coloradoavalanche.com is the official Web site of the Colorado Avalanche. The Colorado Avalanche and coloradoavalanche.com are trademarks of the Colorado Avalanche Hockey Team, Inc.  NHL, the NHL Shield, the word mark and image of the Stanley Cup and NHL Conference logos are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. All NHL logos and marks and NHL team logos and marks as well as all other proprietary materials depicted herein are the property of the NHL and the respective NHL teams and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of NHL Enterprises, L.P. Copyright © 1999-2013 Colorado Avalanche Hockey Team, Inc. and the National Hockey League. All Rights Reserved.