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After finishing with the fewest points in the Western Conference last season, the Colorado Avalanche currently have the most in 2009-10.

Their hot start should be put to the test during a four-game road trip that starts Tuesday night when the Avalanche try to end the Edmonton Oilers' four-game home win streak.

Colorado (8-1-2) had 10 points in its first 11 games last season and finished with 69 for the third-lowest point total in the NHL. Led by the surprising Craig Anderson in net, the Avalanche have been one of the major surprises early under first-year coach Joe Sacco.

Anderson has set a record for victories by an Avalanche goaltender in October by starting every game in place of an ailing Peter Budaj. The journeyman is among the league leaders in goals-against average at 2.14 after a spectacular 48-save performance Saturday in a 3-1 victory over Detroit.

"Outstanding," Sacco said. "He was very solid all game and gave us a chance to win."

T.J. Galiardi and Chris Stewart each had a goal and an assist for Colorado, which has posted its second-best 11-game start behind the 2000-01 club that opened 9-0-2 and won the Stanley Cup.

"Everyone was saying we wouldn't do much this year, but everyone in here knew what we had," Galiardi said. "It's pretty special right now and we want to keep it going."

Rookie center Ryan O'Reilly is tied for the team lead with 10 points, including nine over a seven-game streak. Second-year winger Stewart has four points in his last two games.

The Avalanche will be without forward Darcy Tucker, who was placed on the injured list Monday after suffering a concussion Friday on a check by Carolina's Tuomo Ruutu.

Colorado has already enjoyed success on the road, going 4-1-2 on a trip from Oct. 8-21. This stretch includes visits to Calgary, San Jose and Vancouver.

The Oilers (6-4-1) have lost consecutive games for the first time after a 2-0 road loss to the Canucks on Sunday that followed a 5-2 defeat to the Flames on Saturday.

"The past two days haven't been pretty," Oilers coach Pat Quinn said after Sunday's loss. "I don't like the result for sure. It was kind of a sleeper game ... we didn't play good enough to get a good result."

Edmonton was 0 for 6 on the power play Sunday, including a lengthy 5-on-3 advantage less than 8 minutes into the game.

"We didn't take it into the scoring areas," Quinn said. "We played on the outside tonight and when you play on the outside of this game you get these kind of results."

Getting off to a fast start has been a problem in recent games for Edmonton, which has been outscored 8-2 over the first 30 minutes of its last three contests.

Nikolai Khabibulin is expected back in net after backup Jeff Deslauriers started Sunday's contest. Khabibulin has a 2.25 GAA during the Oilers' home win streak.