"In Friday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes at the Pepsi Center, Avalanche coach Joe Sacco is hoping his team maintains a high level of play against one of the NHL's weaker teams. The Avs seem to play their best against the great teams, evidenced by a 3-2 shootout loss to Vancouver and 5-2 victory over Chicago in their past two games.

The Hurricanes (20-25-10) are last in the Eastern Conference with 50 points.

"We have to make sure we have the same mindset, the same focus, regardless of who we're playing," Sacco said after today's practice. "It seems that when we play those teams — the Chicagos, the Vancouvers or teams that we consider elite teams in the league or our conference — we tend to play, I don't want to say different, but a little bit harder. We have to have that same mindset, regardless of who we're playing.""