*8* LATE SHOW TOTAL SPECIAL on OVER Islanders/Avalanche.

The Colorado Avalanche will entertain the New York Islanders at Pepsi Center in Denver Thursday night. The Avs have six wins over their last eight games and the Islanders seven wins in their last nine. I think we'll see both teams coming out playing a positive hockey tonight favoring a high-scoring tilt.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Home Cookin' - Colorado is averaging 3.08 goals per game home at Pepsi Center which can be compared to a 2.75 mark overall for the season. It's also conceding a fair amount of goals though, 3.42 per game on average to be exact, which is among the worst averages in the NHL this season. The over is 9-3-1 in the Avs last 13 home games.

2. Jaroslav Halak - The Islanders netminder gave up four goals on just 16 shots in Tuesday's 5-1 loss to the Panthers. He's conceded a total of 12 goals in his last four starts.

3. X-Factor - The over is 6-2 in the last eight head-to-head meetings.

Selection: This is a play on NYI@COL to go OVER the total (8*)