MASON RAYMOND

His contributions on offence during last Saturday's win over the Avalanche may have been lost in the excitement of Henrik Sedin's first career hat-trick, but Mason Raymond also managed to have a career-night at the Pepsi Center in Denver six nights ago. The 24-year old, who is known more for his abilities as a sniper than as a playmaker, drew assists on all three of Henrik's goals against the Avalanche. The three assists not only marked a career-high for most assists in a single game for Raymond but, as hard as it may be to believe, was the first ever multi-assist game in the NHL for the former Camrose Kodiak.

The Cochrane, Alberta native will be looking to continue his recent hot streak overall and against the Avalanche. He comes into tonight's contest with points in seven of his last eight games and also leads the Canucks in point against the Avalanche this season with five (1-4-5). In 12 career games versus Colorado, Raymond has amassed nine points (2-7-9) and four penalty minutes.

DAVID JONES

If someone were to tell David Jones at the start of the season that he would find himself taking regular shifts on the top line of the Avalanche, he would probably have laughed in their face. Lately, David Jones is laughing for a completely different other reason. The third-year pro, who last season appeared in a career-high 40 games and also recorded career-highs in goals (8), assists (5), and points (13), has found himself over the last several games lining up alongside Paul Stastny and Wojtek Wolski on Colorado's number one unit. The promotion certainly paid dividends on Wednesday when Jones tallied his seventh goal of the season in Edmonton albeit in a losing cause for the Avs.

The native of Guelph, Ontario, who was originally a ninth round pick (288th overall) of the Avs back in 2003, will be looking for his first points of the season against the Canucks tonight. He has been held scoreless in two contests versus Vancouver this season and had a particularly forgettable night last Saturday when he finished with a minus-three rating. In nine career games versus the Canucks, Jones has recorded one goal and a minus-three rating.

BRING ON THE AVALANCHE

After spending the last five days practicing and scoreboard watching, it's back to business for the Vancouver Canucks (11-10-0) as they open a five-game home stand hosting the same team they beat in their most recent game in the Colorado Avalanche (13-6-3) tonight at General Motors Place.

NOW THAT'S HOW YOU BUMP A SLUMP

I would say in his last three weeks, [Mason Raymond has] been one of our better players at generating offence as far as finishing more and we need some other guys to surprise us also here. - Coach V praising the play of Mason Raymond and urging others to step up as well.

Leading up to their game last Saturday against the Avalanche, all the talk surrounding the Canucks was on their inability to score goals as they managed to find the back of the net just three times in their previous three games. If for only one night, the Canucks managed to put a giant muzzle on all their collective critics.

Powered by Henrik Sedin's first career hat-trick, the Canucks tallied a season-high eight times on the road against one of the NHL's best home teams in an 8-2 romp over the Avs at the Pepsi Center. The win helped the Canucks avoid what would have been their longest losing streak of the season and helped them conclude their otherwise sub-par five-game road trip on a positive note (2-3-0).

The Canucks certainly hope that five days off without any game action won't quash the momentum they gained from that big win on Friday night as they play the first of five straight games at GM Place beginning with an always-important Northwest Division clash against the same team they embarrassed in their last outing.

STILL SLIDING

After getting shellacked on home ice by the Canucks last Saturday, the Avalanche rebounded just the way they wanted to in their next outing as they began a three-game Western Canada road swing in Calgary with a solid defensive effort in a 3-2 win over the Flames on Tuesday. They looked to be on their way to a second straight win in Edmonton on Wednesday, but that was before they suffered their biggest collapse of the season.

They have got me on the second line and they are keeping me on the power play and I think I have the least points on the team. So they are definitely doing me lots of favours and hopefully I will reward them this week. - Kyle Wellwood on needing to step up his offensive production.

Holding a 2-1 lead after the first period and a 4-2 lead midway through the second period, the Avs gave up a late marker to Sam Gagner with just 16 seconds left in the middle frame setting the stage for an Oilers comeback in the third period as Edmonton would go on to add three more tallies in the final frame for a 6-4 victory. The loss was Colorado's third regulation loss in the last five games (they had just two regulation losses in all of October) and marked the first time this season that they had failed to win a game when leading after the first period and the first time they have lost a game in regulation this season when leading after two periods.

Confidence may be at a season-low for the Avalanche but nothing would reinvigorate the crew from Colorado more than a redemption win over the Canucks team that humiliated them at the Pepsi Center last Saturday. The Canucks have won the last two straight games over the Avs, out-scoring them 11-2 overall, with one of those victories having taken place at GM Place - a 3-0 win back on November 1st. A regulation win by the Canucks tonight would ensure them of at least a split in the 2009.10 season series.

After tonight, the Canucks and Avalanche will have to put their rivalry on hold as the two teams won't face each other again until March 9th back at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

WATCH IT

Tonight's game faces off at 7:00pm PT and can be seen on Rogers Sportsnet Pacific. Listen live on the TEAM 1040 Sports Radio or online at team1040.ca.