NOTEBOOK

Capitals:

T.J Oshie had the overtime goal at Minnesota to give Washington its fifth straight win ... Braden Holtby, then the farmhand goalie the Capitals were counting on to move up when they traded Semyon Varlamov to Colorado in 2011, shakily earned the win against the Wild and reached 40 for the third season in a row. ... Going into the night, Holtby’s goals-against average (2.01) and save percentage (..927) both were second in the league, to Columbus’ Sergei Bobrovsky. ... Backup Philipp Grubauer could get a rare start Wednesday in the matchup of the league’s best vs. worst ... This is a five-game trip for the Capitals. After facing the Avalanche, the Capitals are at Arizona, Columbus and Toronto.

On the other end of the spectrum, Colorado has lost six in a row since a 3-1 victory over Detroit at home March 15. … The Avalanche didn’t practice Tuesday after returning from Calgary, where it lost 4-2 to the Flames on Monday. … Matt Duchene doesn’t have a point in the latest losing streak, while Nathan MacKinnon has one goal and three assists. … Going into Tuesday’s games, Calvin Pickard’s goals-against average (2.91) placed him 37th among the 44 NHL goalies with enough appearances to be listed, and his save percentage (.907) was 35th. … The Nuggets, no longer last in NBA attendance (after passing the Timberwolves) are closing in on the Avalanche at the box office. The Avalanche now is averaging 14,808 in attendance, 25th in the 30-team NHL; the Nuggets are averaging 14,603.

Avalanche: