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Roy: Avs ‘excited to be going back home’

Patrick Roy

Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy smiles as he takes questions after the Avalanche’s 6-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in a hockey game in Denver on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

AP

Those expecting pessimism from Patrick Roy following Monday’s 5-2 loss to Minnesota weren’t getting any.

“You know what? We fought all year to be in that position to be in a Game 7,” Roy said, per the Denver Post. “We’re going to be in our building, in front of our fans. I’m sure our players are excited about it. I know our players are not happy with losing this game, but we are excited to be going back home.

“I’d rather be playing at home.”

You can expect to hear plenty about “playing at home” leading up to Wednesday’s game at the Pepsi Center. Monday’s Game 6 marked the sixth time in this series the home team emerged the victor, with both teams playing “their games” at home. The Avs have been dynamic offensively at the Pepsi Center, scoring 13 times in three games, while the Wild have been equally good defensively at Xcel, surrendering just three goals on 57 shots against.

But those performances at Xcel are now rendered moot, because Game 7 is in Denver.

Aside from winning all three games at home this series, the Avs have a season-long history of solid performances in Colorado. They went 26-11-4 during the year and closed out the year going 2-0-1 with wins over Vancouver and the Rangers, losing to Pittsburgh in a shootout.

In light of this decided home-ice advantage, one would expect the Wild to go into Game 7 as the underdog -- but as head coach Mike Yeo reminded after tonight’s win, anything can happen in a one-shot, winner-take all scenario.

“We’ve got to be ready to go play our best game of the series,” he said. “We’re not done. We’ll go in there with a real purpose.”