Tonight's schedule is a very light one in the NHL with only two games being played.  Luckily, one of the NHL's best rivalries is being shown on Versus tonight at 7:00pm.  The Colorado Avalanche will travel to Detroit to take on the Red Wings in the early game while San Jose makes a stop in Los Angeles to face off against the Kings.

To be honest, this hasn't been much of a rivalry lately.  Colorado has lost four consecutive regular season games to Detroit and has been shutout in each of the past three matchups.  Since the Red Wings blew the Aves away in game 7 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals, the Red Wings are 19-4-1 against the Avalanche, including playoffs.

But players like Ryan Smyth, Ian Laperriere, Darcy Ticker, Andreas Lilja, and Darren McCarty are the reason to tune into this game.  At any time, these players are ready to drop the gloves.  And if things escalate too much, we know Chris Osgood isn't afraid to fight either.

While Chris Osgood comes into this game with the last ranked save percentage and near last goal against average rating, .875% and 3.20 GAA, he does have a 12-1-4 record and has not lost in regulation since the season's first game.

Detroit enters the game with a 9-2-2 home record and Colorado an 8-6 road record.  However, the Avalanche are just 2-4-1 on the road in their past seven games.  Andrew Raycroft is sceduled to start tonight's game which looks to give the Colorado a much better chance.  Raycroft is 3-1 this year and 2-1 against Detroit all time with a 1.85 GAA.

That said, I like Colorado to break to the shutout streak tonight and break through for a few goals, just not enough to win.

My Picks
Detroit 5-3
San Jose 4-2

Colorado Avalanche vs. Detroit Red Wings 7:00pm [VERSUS]
San Jose Sharks vs. Los Angeles Kings 10:30pm

Avalanche vs. Detroit Preview [ESPN]
Sharks vs. Kings Preview [ESPN]