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Two teams coming off disappointing losses meet Wednesday Youth Dion Phaneuf Jersey , and both are trying to figure things out on special teams.The Montreal Canadiens can’t seem to score on the power play and suddenly the Colorado Avalanche are struggling to consistently kill penalties. Something has to give when the teams play at Pepsi Center in Denver on Wednesday night.Montreal (17-12-5) lost to Boston 4-0 on Monday night in a game right winger Brendan Gallagher called “one of the worst of my career” afterward. The Canadiens had won six of their previous eight games, they were rested but were outshot 35-22 by a Bruins team playing the second of back-to-back games.Article continues below ...Every team has off nights but Montreal has had a season-long struggle of scoring with the man advantage. The Canadiens haven’t had a power-play goal in their last 25 chances and have only scored 14 all season.“It’s just the little things,” Gallagher told Sportsnet after Monday’s loss. “We have to win puck battles. It’s not a strategic problem. It’s just work ethic, compete. We have to find a way to get the puck. We didn’t have enough control of the puck in the zone to put into practice anything that we’ve worked on or talked about. It’s as simple as that. It’s not strategic.”Colorado’s issues might be more strategic than anything. The Avalanche were one of the top penalty-killing teams in the first two months but have struggled lately. They have allowed at least one power-play goal in six of the last seven games, including two to the New York Islanders on Monday.Colorado (18-10-6) has gone 1-3-1 in its last five games and has allowed seven power-play goals in that stretch.“It looks to me like we’re just not as quick as we were earlier,” Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said after Monday’s loss. “We had some problems with clears for a while but that wasn’t a problem tonight. They score on a flank shot. We’re not blocking enough shots; we’re not in the shooting lanes enough. That’s two of the last three that have come from the flank on one-timers. We’re taking too many penalties, too.”Coaches claim the goaltender is the team’s best penalty killer and the Avalanche haven’t gotten that from No. 1 stopper Semyon Varlamov. He has allowed 21 goals in his last five starts and was pulled from two of those games.His goals-against average over the last five games is 5.32, but he won’t get the chance to improve on that Wednesday. Philipp Grubauer will start in net against Montreal.Colorado is also expected to get back forward Alexander Kerfoot after a four-game absence with an upper-body injury.“It looks like he should be good to play,” Bednar told hockeybuzz.com after Tuesday’s practice. “I just have to get confirmation (from the medical staff) that he’s in for sure.”The Canadiens made a roster move ahead of their six-game road trip with the recall of 20-year-old defenseman Victor Mete. Mete played 23 games before being sent to the AHL to build his confidence after some struggles.Montreal sent Noah Juulsen down to make room for Mete. WASHINGTON — After taking a few days off for the holidays, the Washington Capitals will look to keep their early season momentum going Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes in a Metropolitan Division matchup.The Capitals have won seven of eight and 14 of their last 17 to take control of the division Drew Doughty Jersey , including a 4-0 victory over Ottawa on Dec. 23, and are winning thanks to contributions from every line. While Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov are the big scoring names, unheralded players such as Lars Eller and Brett Connolly have also stepped up to make Washington’s offense more lethal.“The coaching staff has a lot of faith in every single guy,” Connolly told The Washington Post. “We do have a lot of good depth and that’s definitely worked in our favor.”Article continues below ...Washington has 14 players with at least 10 points and five players with at least 10 goals, a testament to the kind of balance the Capitals are hoping to achieve from the top to bottom lines.“When you get guys down the lineup contributing, old, slow defenseman contributing, I think that’s good for team-building,” defenseman Matt Niskanen told reporters after Sunday’s game.With the Capitals coming off the holiday break, expect starter goaltender Braden Holtby to get the start between the pipes against the Hurricanes. He earned the victory in a wild 6-5 overtime contest when the teams faced off Dec. 14. In his career http://www.officialkings.com/authentic-adidas-dustin-brown-jersey , Holtby is 13-6-0 with a 2.09 goals-against average and .935 save percentage with two shutouts in 19 appearances against Carolina.The Hurricanes were victorious heading into their break, earning a 5-3 triumph over Boston on Sunday to end a brief, two-game skid. As evidenced by its 15-15-5 record, consistency has been an issue for Carolina. The Hurricanes continue to be carried by Sebastian Aho, who leads the team in goals (14) and assists (24), and is coming off a four-point effort in the win over Boston.“When you score, you get more confidence. That’s how it goes,” Aho told the team’s website. “I’m feeling pretty good right now, but it’s not just me.”Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour was pleased with his team’s effort in the comeback win against Boston, and knows that a similar performance is needed if his team is to best the Capitals.“You could see from the start they were engaged Jake Muzzin Jersey , even when we got down, and it was nice to see,” Brind’Amour told reporters. “The level of engagement, really for 60 minutes, it was there.”The Hurricanes may turn to Petr Mrazek in net for Thursday’s contest after he picked up his sixth win of the season against Boston. Carolina has a way to go before it gets to Washington’s level of sustained excellence, but the Hurricanes are hoping to start with a win over the division leaders.“We can come back now feeling a little better,” forward Teuvo Teravainen said. “It’s still not where we want to be, but it’s getting better.”