Marek Svatos News

Since returning to the lineup and displacing veteran John-Michael Liles, Avalanche defenseman Kyle Cumiskey is a minus-4 with no points in two games.

MORE OLYMPIC COVERAGE BRATISLAVA, Slovakia - Colorado Avalanche goaltender Peter Budaj will mind the nets for Slovakia at the 2010 Olympic Games, but his NHL teammate and countryman, Marek Svatos, was not on the team's preliminary roster for Vancouver.

The Colorado Avalanche have grabbed the Northwest Division lead partly due to the play of their rookies.

Matt Duchene They won't go head-to-head much, but Duchene is tied for third in rookie scoring and Benn is tied for fifth.

Ryan Getzlaf scored with 25.9 seconds remaining, completing a late rally by the Anaheim Ducks for a 4-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night.

What would happen if the Avalanche's equipment all burned up? "I usually wear a new pair of skates every couple weeks anyway, so it wouldn't be that big a deal to me," Avs veteran Darcy Tucker said.

Chris Stewart scored 21 seconds into the game, opening a four-goal flurry in the first period that carried the Colorado Avalanche to a 5-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.

The Columbus Blue Jackets will try to avoid their longest losing streak in over three years tonight in a matchup with the hosting Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center.

The Minnesota Wild got just enough offense and great goaltending to keep up their mastery of the Colorado Avalanche.

The Washington Capitals were happy with an easy win, but they didn't leave Colorado in a good mood.

Cody McLeod #55 of the Colorado Avalanche is congratulated by his teammates after his second period goal against goalie Ray Emery #29 of the Philadelphia Flyers during NHL action at the Pepsi Center on November 23, 2009 in Denver, Colorado.

Colorado's Ryan Stoa and Matt Duchene mob Darcy Tucker, center, after he scored his first goal in almost two months on Sunday night against Calgary.

Colorado Avalanche right winger Marek Svatos, left, shoots the puck at Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom in the third period of the Wild's 1-0 victory in Denver on Wednesday.

Darcy Tucker scored his first goal in nearly two months, Craig Anderson stopped 19 shots and the Colorado Avalanche beat Calgary 3-2 on Sunday night to take over the top spot in the Northwest Division.

Avalanche forward Milan Hejduk will miss Colorado's game against the Calgary Flames with a knee injury.

Niklas Backstrom made 23 saves for his first shutout of the season, Antti Miettinen scored for Minnesota, and the Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 1-0 on Wednesdaynight.

Former Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy Every Monday, we do an official " Avs Mailbag ," with questions from readers.

For the first month of the season, the Avalanche's reliance on goaltender Craig Anderson as a workhorse was understandable, given his strong play.

Colorado coach Joe Sacco was having none of this talk Thursday about the Avalanche hanging in with the defending Stanley Cup champions after playing the night before and arriving at its Pittsburgh hotel at 3 in the morning.

Colorado, which fell to 14-8-5 for the season and two points behind Calgary in the Northwest Division, got worse news about 45 minutes after the game ended, well after Avalanche coach Joe Sacco and the players had talked to the media and, in most cases, left the building.