NHL

• Avs try to continue home success in clash with Blackhawks

  
  

  (Sports Network) - The Colorado Avalanche will attempt to equal their best home start to a season since relocating to Denver, as they welcome the Chicago Blackhawks tonight to the Pepsi Center.

  The Avalanche began a three-game residency on Wednesday with a 4-1 victory over the Coyotes. The win improved them to 5-0-0 as the host this year, one victory shy of the 6-0-0 mark the 2007-08 squad started the season with.

  Milan Hejduk scored twice and had an assist versus Phoenix, while Marek Svatos and Davis Jones also scored. Colorado, which also got three assists from Paul Stastny, halted a two-game slide and won for the fifth time in seven games.

  "(The Coyotes) are a really good team, with solid goaltending," said Hejduk. "This is a game we expected." Peter Budaj, recovered from a bout with swine flu and making his first start of the season, finished with 28 saves. Craig Anderson had started the club's first 15 games, a franchise record, and should get the start tonight.

  Should Anderson start, he might have to face a returning Jonathan Toews. Chicago's captain has missed the last five games due to concussion-like symptoms, but skated on Wednesday and Thursday and hopes to be back tonight.

  Toews had 34 goals, 35 assists and 69 points in his second NHL season a year ago, but has been limited to a goal and four helpers in nine games this year.

  The Blackhawks have gone 3-2-0 without Toews in the lineup, including last night's 3-1 loss to the Coyotes. Kris Versteeg had a short-handed goal and Cristobal Huet stopped 20-of-23 shots in defeat.

  "We had a lot of chances to take control of the game and it was just unfortunate tonight," Versteeg said.

  Patrick Kane had an assist to give him a goal and five helpers over his last six games, but Patrick Sharp, who leads the team with six goals, failed to light the lamp for the seventh time in his last eight games.

  Chicago earned a 4-3 shootout win over Colorado on October 10, with Andrew Ladd netting the winning goal in the ninth round of the extra session. The Blackhawks have won four of six and six of their last nine versus the Avs, but have dropped two of three and three of their last five in Denver.

  11/06 11:11:22 ET