Avs Back At It Tonight in D.C.

And, Dater travel memories of Washington

I’m bullish on the Avalanche’s chances of victory tonight in Washington against the Capitals. First of all, the Caps aren’t a very good team anymore, currently six points out of a playoff spot, 11th overall in the Eastern Conference.

Second of all, the Avs should be an ornery bunch, losers of three in a row and just one point on this lengthy road trip so far.

My prediction: Avs 5, Caps 3, with an empty-netter.

I see a big game from both Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, and a good-enough performance from Alexandar Georgiev. Have you put your life savings on my prediction yet?

Yeah, don’t do that. But I like their chances.

Washington, D.C. They say it can be a busy place full of a lot of important people. I probably made 25 or so trips to D.C. to cover Avs games there, so here are some memories going back to that first season of 1995-96:

• That first season will always be the most memorable for me probably, and my first game covering the Caps in D.C. wasn’t even in D.C. It was in Landover, Md., at the old Capital Centre (yes, spelled with an re at the end). I’d seen so many games on TV from there as a kid, so that first game there (Oct. 13, 1995) was a fun, brand new experience. The Caps won a very uneventful game, 3-1, with Joe Sakic scoring the only Avs goal and Stephane Fiset taking the loss in net. He gave up two goals on 17 shots before Dale Hunter scored into the empty net.