head coach: Marc Crawford

roster: C - Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Stephane Yelle, Jari Kurri. LW - Valeri Kamensky, Rene Corbet, Eric Lacroix. RW - Claude Lemieux, Adam Deadmarsh, Keith Jones, Jeff Odgers, Shean Donovan. D - Sandis Ozolinsh, Sylvain Lefebvre, Uwe Krupp, Adam Foote, Alexei Gusarov, Jon Klemm, Aaron Miller, Eric Messier, Francois Leroux. G - Patrick Roy, Craig Billington.

injuries: Keith Jones, rw (knee, February); Wade Belak, d (shoulder, February).

transactions: None.

standings:

Western Conference - Pacific Division
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
Colorado     58  29  13  16    74  172  138
Los Angeles  55  26  20   9    61  161  146
San Jose     56  21  28   7    49  139  152
Edmonton     57  19  28  10    48  141  164
Anaheim      56  19  28   9    47  137  170
Calgary      57  16  30  11    43  149  179
Vancouver    57  16  33   8    40  153  203

game results:

1/26 Edmonton      W 2-1 OT
1/28 Vancouver     W 6-1
1/31 at San Jose   L 5-2
2/02 at Vancouver  W 2-1
2/05 Chicago       W 4-2
2/07 Philadelphia  W 3-2

team news:

by Greg D’Avis, Colorado Correspondent

After their first three-game losing streak in over two years, the Avalanche finally learned a valuable lesson: if Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Valeri Kamensky don't score, other players have to. The three big guns were all mired in slumps, but unlike other points in the season, second- and third-tier players, most notably Claude Lemieux and Rene Corbet, were stepping up to fill the gaps.

The Avalanche got well the way they always do: against perennial whipping boys Edmonton and Vancouver. After the three-game losing streak, during which they often looked uninterested, the team got a good, hard-fought win against Edmonton, coming back from a third period deficit to tie the game and then win it in OT on an Eric Lacroix goal. Since the move to Colorado, the Oilers have only beaten the Avalanche once during the regular season; about time to start calling it a bye game, huh?

Next up came the lowly Canucks, who rolled over and played dead while the Avs skated circles around them. Lemieux added two more goals, and both Kamensky and Forsberg got well briefly and racked up four points apiece. The only suspense in the game was whether or not Mark Messier and usually-passive Alexei Gusarov would fight at the end; as it turned out, Adam Foote stepped in and nothing happened.

Unfortunately, the Avalanche forgot all their good lessons as they traveled to San Jose. The Sharks dominated, making Colorado look like a junior team in a 5-2 rout, one of the Avalanche's most all-around pathetic performances of the year. Patrick Roy got yanked after giving up four goals, and his teammates didn't do themselves any honor with their listless play.

The road trip continued in Vancouver, with a boring game which seemed to be played entirely in the neutral zone. Sandis Ozolinsh got two goals for the win, exciting all five people who stayed awake through the whole thing.

But the Avalanche returned to Denver for a rarity - an all-out exciting game against the Blackhawks. Sakic and Forsberg starred, each picking up a goal and some assists, to win the game. It was especially good to see considering the drought each player, Sakic in particular, has been in of late.

For the game against Philadelphia, both teams could've been forgiven for looking ahead to the Olympics - it matched up the two teams with the most players going to the Games (Colorado 9, Philadelphia 8). But it was a close, hard-fought game and a big character win for the Avalanche - they dug a hole early and got down 2-0 in the first, but battled back and won 3-2 on a third-period Lacroix goal.

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