The Avalanche on Monday night will put a five-game winning streak on the line against the Toronto Maple Leafs, who ended Colorado’s previous significant winning streak Nov. 17 at Air Canada Centre.
The Avs had won three in a row before the Leafs pounded them 5-1 at home.
Captain Gabe Landeskog said Colorado is a far better team than the last time it faced Toronto. For starters, goalie Semyon Varlamov — who is riding a seven-game winning streak and was named the NHL’s No. 1 star of the week Monday — was on injured reserve in Toronto.
“We’re prepared,” Landeskog said after the morning skate at the Pepsi Center. “We’ve been playing well, as of lately, and we know what to do out there. We feel like we’re hungry and want to go for that sixth one. We’re not satisfied in any way. For us, it’s been about having a good start and making sure we set the pace in the first period.”
Toronto is also on a nice stretch, taking a five-game unbeaten streak (3-0-2) into Denver.
The Avs have four full days off after Monday’s game and doesn’t play again until Dec. 27 against visiting Arizona, beginning a stretch where it plays six of seven at home.
“It’s about making sure we’re in the mix here at Christmas time, and come January we have a lot of home games,” Landeskog said.
Footnotes. Avs coach Patrick Roy will go with the same lineup in the last three games, thus forward Chris Wagner and defenseman Brandon Gormley will not play. … Colorado is just 6-7-1 at home but has won its last two in Denver.
Mike Chambers: mchambers@denverpost.com or @mikechambers
