AVALANCHE (11-17-1) at JETS (14-16-3)
3 p.m. ET; TSN3, ALT, NHL.TV
Avalanche team scope
Goalie Calvin Pickard will start his third straight game for the Colorado Avalanche, who look to avoid a three-game losing streak. Pickard will play in his hometown of Winnipeg for the first time in his NHL career. "It will be pretty fun … a lot of family and friends watching," Pickard told the Avalanche website Saturday. "But I can't worry about that. There's more to it than that right now. We've got to dig ourselves out of this hole and find a way to win. That's the main goal." Goalie Semyon Varlamov has missed two games because of a groin injury, but he practiced fully Saturday. "Feeling good," Varlamov said. "Finally [got] back on the ice and I had a full practice today. I don't know if I'm ready to play [Sunday]. I will definitely be ready to play in two days (against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday). I just need two extra days practicing and I'll be good to go." The Avalanche are 2-8-1 in their past 11 games and are 7-7-0 this season on the road. Colorado was 0-for-6 on the power play in a 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on Friday and are 2-for-18 in their past five games. "We need our power play to win us games," coach Jared Bednar said.
Jets team scope
The Winnipeg Jets will look to win for the second time in seven games on Sunday. The Jets are 1-3-2 in their past six games and ended a four-game losing streak in a 4-3 shootout win against the Florida Panthers on Thursday. The Jets are 7-4-1 against Central Division opponents this season. "It's that time of the year right now where you're either going to be chasing for the second half or you're going to be in a better spot," forward Brian Little told the Jets website. "We're right on that line. We want to go into the Christmas break feeling good and hopefully with a few wins." The Jets are 1-for-14 on the power play in their past five games and are 8-for-16 on the penalty kill in their past four. "It's a fading of confidence in your penalty kill," coach Paul Maurice said. "When we're at our best, any team shows so much more time where they are aggressive, the other team isn't in structure. We've just gotten ourselves to a point that we have absolutely no up-ice pressure, no stand at the line, so we spend an awful lot of time in that tight box trying to pick up seams and teams will pick you apart on it."
Avalanche projected lineup
Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Rene Bourque
Mikhail Grigorenko -- Matt Duchene -- Mikko Rantanen
Blake Comeau -- John Mitchell -- Jarome Iginla
Cody McLeod -- Carl Soderberg -- Andreas Martinsen
Francois Beauchemin -- Eric Gelinas
Nikita Zadorov -- Patrick Wiercioch
Calvin Pickard
Scratched: Cody Goloubef
Injured: Joe Colborne (lower body), Semyon Varlamov (groin)
Jets projected lineup
Nikolaj Ehlers -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Mathieu Perreault -- Bryan Little -- Patrik Laine
Brandon Tanev -- Adam Lowry -- Drew Stafford
Marko Dano -- Andrew Copp -- Chris Thorburn
Josh Morrissey -- Dustin Byfuglien
Scratched: Mark Stuart, Alexander Burmistrov
Injured: Joel Armia (lower body), Shawn Matthias (lower body), Tyler Myers (lower body), Nic Petan (lower body)
Status report
Colborne will miss his third straight game on Sunday. … Burmistrov is likely to be a healthy scratch for the fifth straight game.
Who's hot
Duchene has seven points (five goals, two assists) in his past six games. He is two points away from 400 in his NHL career. … Byfuglien has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past nine games.
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