The Colorado Avalanche closed out a five game road trip with a 4-1 win at Vancouver after losing three consecutive prior. Tonight they're back home in the Rocky Mountains, and I think they're looking good to book a second consecutive win hosting the league-worst Buffalo Sabres, a team they blew away in Buffalo earlier in the season.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Goaltending - The Sabres have confirmed that Anders Lindback will make his ninth start for the club tonight, going 1-5-2 behind a 2.67 GAA over his first eight. He allowed four goals at Dallas his last time out, and gave up five his last outing against Colorado, by then still with the Stars. Semyon Varlamov is likely to tend the net for the hosts, and he's 15-8-1 with a 2.19 GAA over 24 outings at home on the season. His job just got a little bit easier as Buffalo's top-scorer Tyler Ennis is confirmed out with an upper-body injury.

2. Previous Meetings - The Avs have claimed eight straight in the series while averaging 3.9 goals per game. They embarrassed Buffalo in front of its own fans back in Decemeber with a 5-1 road victory. Alex Tanguy tallied two goals and one assist in that contest and is coming in red hot with three goals and two assists over his last three games.

3. X-Factor - The Avs Ryan O'Reilly is on a six-game point streak over which he has notched four goals and seven assists.

Selection: This is a play on the Colorado Avalanche -1.5 (10*)