AVALANCHE (1-1-0) at RED WINGS (2-0-0)

TV: Versus, RIS, TSN2.

Season Series: This is the first of four meetings between the Western Conference rivals. Each team won twice in 2009-10, as Colorado earned a pair of victories against Detroit in October before the Red Wings won on Dec. 31 and March 1.

Big Story: Tuesday night provides the Wings with an opportunity to show a national audience just how talented they still are. Detroit has outscored its opponents by a 7-2 margin in its first two games, which includes a victory against the defending Stanley Cup champ Chicago Blackhawks. The team rewarded coach Mike Babcock with a four-year contract extension on Monday morning.

Team Scope:

Avalanche: Colorado rallied from a 2-0 deficit on Monday night, but came up short in a 4-2 loss at Philadelphia. Brandon Yip and Milan Hejduk scored for the Avs, who were within 2:38 of at least a point before Jeff Carter broke a 2-2 tie for the Flyers.

"We fought back hard and competed until the final whistle, but we made a few mistakes and on the power play, you're not supposed to lose momentum," coach Joe Sacco said.

Red Wings: After an impressive 4-0 win against Anaheim at Joe Louis Arena on Friday, the Wings headed to Chicago and earned a 3-2 win against the Blackhawks just 24 hours later. Valtteri Filppula scored twice as Detroit ruined any good feelings the Hawks were having as they raised their Stanley Cup banner to the United Center rafters before the game.

"Sometimes it's hard to get going after an emotional ceremony," Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. "A lot of great memories might start coming back for them, then they've got to be ready to come back and play again."
 
Who's Hot: John-Michael Liles assisted on both of Colorado's tallies on Monday, giving him four in two games. … Filppula and power forward Todd Bertuzzi each have three points after Detroit's first two games, while Brian Rafalski is already a plus-5.

Injury Report: Colorado forwards David Koci (broken jaw) and Peter Mueller (concussion) are both on injured reserve. … Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson is day-to-day with back spasms, while forwards Kris Draper (groin) and Justin Abdelkader (ribs) hope to return shortly.

Stat Pack: Wings rookie defenseman Jakub Kindl made his NHL debut in Saturday night's win at Chicago. Kindl is the club's highest draft pick (No. 19 in 2005) in 19 years.

Puck Drop: "It was a horrible second half last year. I've had great years, and it doesn't matter the next year, every year is separate. I was really looking forward to coming back this year. Got to continue, it's only one game. I got to fight and play well for every one of my starts, and that's a good healthy thing." -- Detroit goalie Chris Osgood