ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Slumping Colorado forward Jarome Iginla experimented with a new stick at practice Monday. Anything to ignite a team thats constantly winding up on the short end of one this season.The Avs have accumulated a league-worst 19 points through 23 games in coach Jared Bednars first season at the helm. Theyre missing their captain, top defenseman and a consistent scoring punch as they tumble farther behind the Central Division leaders.Theres no question weve been pressing a little bit and pushing, said Iginla, whose team begins a four-game trip Tuesday night in Nashville. We know the importance, because we dont want to dig ourselves too big of a hole. Weve just got to make sure were as sharp as we can be.Iginla shelved his old stick after scoring just one goal in his last 15 contests. They early returns on this particularly curved model are favorable, too. He beat Calvin Pickard with a shot in practice that had the backup goaltender gushing later on.Im due. Im due for a change, said the 39-year-old Iginla, whos scored 614 career goals and sits 11 away from tying Hall of Fame forward/Avalanche GM Joe Sakic for 15th place on the all-time list. Id like to get contributing here, production-wise, for the group.The team has scored just 49 times this season, which is among the lowest in the league. Theyre generating 29.2 shots per game -- five less than NHL leader Pittsburgh.The scoring chances have certainly been there for speedy forward Nathan MacKinnon, who had a league-high 61 shots in November. But hes just not cashing in at the moment, with only four goals last month. He has five for the season and 10 assists.Its a matter of putting the puck in the net, because once you get hot, they tend to start going in, said MacKinnon, who a signed $44.1 million, seven-year deal in the offseason. It will turn for me.This could help turn the teams luck around as well -- captain Gabriel Landeskog is nearing a return after missing eight games with a lower-body injury. He skated Monday, but will miss Tuesdays game.Landy is progressing, Bednar said. Hes felt better every day for about the last three of four days.Still, the Avalanche will be without defenseman Erik Johnson for at least six-to-eight weeks after he broke his leg while blocking a shot against Dallas on Saturday. Hes been a big presence for Colorado this season with 10 assists.For Bednar, the most puzzling aspect of Colorados struggles has been the inconsistency. One night, it could be the power play. The next, maybe the goaltending.Part of the reason were going through this and were neck deep in it right now is because its something different beating us every night, said Bednar, who took over when Patrick Roy surprisingly stepped aside in August. Its not the same thing. You cure one thing and get better at it and something else pops up.Were lacking that unity, that consistency, that togetherness that you need in order to win a hockey game.Their play at home hasnt helped. The Avs went 0-4-1 on their recent homestand to fall to 4-8-1 at Pepsi Center this season.Heading out on the road might be the ideal thing to clear their heads.We have a chance to get a fresh start, MacKinnon said. Theres some desperation, for sure, to be better. But were not going to be stressed. That would be the worst thing we could do.Game notesColorado recalled D Cody Goloubef from San Antonio of the American Hockey League. Asked what Goloubef brought, Bednar said: Well, he brings us a healthy defenseman right now. ... D Fedor Tyutin (lower body) will travel with the team and could play Tuesday. ... Goaltender Semyon Varlamov will start in goal at Nashville.Cheap Nuggets Jerseys China . PETERSBURG, Fla. Cheap Denver Nuggets Jerseyshttp://www.cheapnuggetsjerseys.com/ . 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For one man, it was a victory over the worlds No. 1 tennis player that could resurrect a career he feared was over. For the other, it was a stunning loss that leaves him waiting four more years for a chance at an Olympic singles gold medal.Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion stalked by injuries ever since, won 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2) in the first round Sunday at the Rio de Janeiro Games. After three left wrist surgeries that had him contemplating retirement, he is ranked just 145th.But when the big Argentine is healthy and smacking his signature forehand around the court, his play is worthy of the gold-medal match -- no matter that his backhand is still a work in progress.Amazing, amazing match for me, del Potro said. I didnt expect to beat Novak tonight, because I know my situation.These two faced off for bronze in London four years ago, with del Potro winning. But when he arrived at Wimbledon in June, he hadnt appeared at a major in 2? years.He would upset fourth-seeded Stan Wawrinka in the second round there, and even though a fatigued del Potro lost his next match, it was a hint that he might yet still have some greatness in him.Del Potro was just 20 when he rallied from a two-sets-to-one deficit to stun five-time defending champion Roger Federer in the US Open final. With the way his forehand rocked Federer that day, more Grand Slam titles seemed certain for the young Argentine.Then came a string of wrist injuries, first to the right, then the left -- which the righty needs for his backhand. He was still slicing often Sunday, but the two-handed shot is beginning to look more comfortable. And with the way he was booming his serves and forehand, del Potro put the pressure on Djokovic from the start.In the second-set tiebreaker, del Petro crushed two straight forehand winners on Djokovics serve to take a 3-0 lead. He made it 5-0 before Djokovic scored a point.Del Potro hit 41 winners Sunday, 29 on his forehand. It would be a forehand off the nnet cord, however, that clinched victory on his second match point.ddddddddddddDjokovic, a 12-time major champion, had more unforced errors than winners: 32-26. The Serb, who will be 33 at the 2020 Olympics, called this one of the toughest losses in my life.Hes still alive in doubles, though, so a gold medal in Rio remains a possibility.At 2-2 in the first-set tiebreaker, del Potro won three straight points to take control. A big forehand that Djokovic couldnt get back gave him three set points, and he converted the second when Djokovics forehand sailed wide.In decisive moments, he just came up with some extraordinary tennis, Djokovic said of the player he described as a good friend of mine.Del Potros Sunday did not start off so auspiciously -- he was stuck in an elevator at the Olympic Village for 40 minutes before Argentine handball players freed him.Argentine player Federico Pizarro heard shouting coming from an elevator and opened the door to find del Potro, who had been trapped there during a power outage.Gonzalo Carou, another one of del Potros rescuers, said the team found the incident funny, but he said it could have been less amusing if del Potros preparations for his match had been disrupted.Its very difficult because del Potro has a very important match, Carou said.It was a hugely difficult match from both del Potros and Djokovics perspective -- each had the misfortune of drawing the other in the first round.It was a raucous atmosphere in the last match of the night on center court, where Argentine fans chanted for del Potro and Brazilians tried to drown out their rivals with cheers for Djokovic.Djokovic started the year with talk of a Grand Slam after he won the Australian Open and French Open. But he was upset in the third round at Wimbledon by 41st-ranked Sam Querrey. The 2008 Olympic bronze medalist seemed to bounce back by winning a hard-court tuneup in Toronto before coming to Rio de Janeiro.He told me really kind words at the end, del Potro said, and I appreciated that. ' ' '