Avalanche Concludes Back-to-Back at Coyotes

The Colorado Avalanche faces off against the Arizona Coyotes in the second game of a back-to-back set between the clubs on Saturday at Gila River Arena. The contest is the second of a four-game road trip for the Avs.
On Friday, Colorado earned its 10th win of the campaign, defeating the Coyotes 3-2 to improve to 10-6-1. Mikko Rantanen kicked off the scoring for the squad, potting his team-leading fourth power-play goal of the year before also adding an assist. Nazem Kadri recorded his second three-point game of the season, finishing with a goal and two assists, while Andre Burakovsky registered a marker in his 400th career game. Netminder Hunter Miska earned his first-career victory, denying 16-of-18 shots.

Arizona made a late third period push, scoring two goals in the last two minutes of the final frame but couldn't find the equalizer. Phil Kessel recorded a multi-point effort (one goal, one assist) and Drake Caggiula scored his first goal of the year. Goaltender Adin Hill made 25 saves in his first start of the season.

Avalanche at Arizona Coyotes

Gila River Arena | Glendale, Ariz.
| Game Time: | 7:00 p.m. | | --- | --- | | TV: | Altitude (blackouts apply), Fox Sports-Arizona (ARI), ESPN+ | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, AM 950 (KKSE) | | Live Streams: | AltitudeNow.com, ESPN+, Official app (blackouts apply to all) | | Online Audio: | Listen Live Here | | Follow: | @Avalanche, Official app, Gamecenter |

COLORADO-ARIZONA CONNECTIONS

Colorado netminder Hunter Miska was a part of the Coyotes organization from 2017-2019… Arizona's Derick Brassard finished the 2018-19 season with the Avalanche… Arizona head coach Rick Tocchet was an assistant coach for Colorado from 2002-2004.

HISTORY

After Friday's victory, the Avs own an all-time 48-30-10 record against the Coyotes (since 1995-96), with a 6-4-0 mark in the last 10 meetings. Nathan MacKinnon's leads the current Avalanche roster with 17 points (three goals, 14 assists) in 20 career matchups versus Arizona, which is tied for sixth in franchise history. Gabriel Landeskog's 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in 26 contests and Mikko Rantanen's 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 10 matchups ranks second and third, respectively, on the current squad when facing the Coyotes.
Saturday's matchup is the third-straight, regular-season contest at Gila River Arena between the two clubs. The Avalanche will host Arizona for a two-game set (third and fourth meeting of the season) on March 8-10.

ROSTER REPORT

Colorado is expected to add a forward from its taxi squad to the lineup after playing with 11 skaters up front on Friday. Matt Calvert was a late scratch and did not play with a lower-body injury. Netminder Philipp Grubauer is expected to start in between the pipes for the second half of the back-to-back.

INJURY UPDATE

Pavel Francouz (lower body), Erik Johnson (upper body) and Dennis Gilbert (upper body) are all out long term with injuries. Matt Calvert skated in warmups of Friday's contest, but did not play due to a lower-body injury, according to coach Jared Bednar.

SCOUTING THE COYOTES

Arizona holds a 9-8-3 mark through the first 20 games of the season, with a 6-5-3 record at Gila River Arena, possessing the sixth spot in the West Division. In 45 all-time games at home versus the Avalanche, the Coyotes own a 19-19-7 record, registering 2.89 goals per game, a 17.2 power-play percentage and 81.4 penalty-kill percentage.
It is Arizona's second back-to-back series of the season. In the club's first time playing on consecutive days this year, the Coyotes fell in overtime to the St. Louis Blues 5-4 in the second game of the set.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: CONOR GARLAND

Conor Garland has had a strong start to the season, tallying seven goals and 12 assists in 20 games, finding the scoresheet in three straight games. The forward leads the Coyotes in points (19), assists (12), plus-minus rating (plus-10) and is tied for the team with six even-strength goals (Phil Kessel). Garland is in his third NHL season--playing all three in an Arizona sweater--and has recorded 76 points (42 goals, 34 assists) in 135 contests.
In four games versus the Avs, the forward has two goals and an assist with a plus-4 rating.

NUMBERS GAME

3

Nazem Kadri leads the Avalanche in game-winning goals, collecting his third game-winner of the season on Friday. Kadri has tallied six goals and six assists this year, ranking fourth on the Avs in scoring.

12

Colorado has scored the first goal in 12 of its 17 games this season. When scoring first, the Avs own a 9-2-1 record and their nine wins are tied for the second-most in the league with the Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild.

89.1

The Avs' 89.1 penalty-kill percentage leads the NHL, killing 49-of-55 man-advantage opportunities this season. On the road, Colorado's PK unit has gone 19-for-20 since Jan. 22.

NOTEBOOK

Andre Bukowski is one point away from reaching the 200 career-point mark… The Avs improved to 2-1-0 in the first game of back-to-backs this season. In the second contest of such sets, Colorado owns a 1-0-1 mark… Mikko Rantanen leads the squad with four power-play goals and ranks second in man-advantage points… The Avs won a season-high 58.6 percent of draws on Friday, as J.T. Compher and Nazem Kardri led the club with eight faceoff wins apiece.