Colorado Closes Back-to-Back in Anaheim

The Colorado Avalanche finishes its first back-to-back of the season against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday at Honda Center.
The Avs fell 4-2 to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday to open the set. After taking a 2-0 lead in the first frame, Colorado gave up two power-play goals in the second and surrendered a late go-ahead goal to Adrian Kempe with 3:56 left in the contest. The Kings went on to tally an empty-net mark to finish the game.
Nathan MacKinnon registered a goal and an assist for his third straight multi-point contest, while Mikko Rantanen (one goal, one assist) also had two points and Cale Makar finished with an assist. Goaltender Hunter Miska made his first NHL start and stopped 23-of-26 shots.

The Anaheim Ducks are coming off a 3-2 loss against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday. Defenseman Cam Fowler potted a goal and Nicolas Deslauriers (one goal, one assist) and Carter Rowney (two assists) combined for four points. Netminder Ryan Miller made 29 saves on 32 shots.
It is the first of eight meetings between the Avs and Ducks and the first of four at Honda Center.

Avalanche at Anaheim Ducks

Honda Center | Anaheim, Calif.
| Game Time: | 8 p.m. MT | | --- | --- | | TV: | Altitude 2, Fox Sports-West (ANA), Sportsnet (CAN) | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, FM 92.5 (KKSE) | | Live Streams: | AltitudeNow.com, Official app (blackouts apply to all) | | Online Audio: | Listen Live Here | | Follow: | @Avalanche, Official app, Gamecenter |

COLORADO-ANAHEIM CONNECTIONS

Avalanche forward Kiefer Sherwood spent two seasons as a part of the Ducks organization from 2018-20… Ducks defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk was Colorado's first-round draft choice in 2007 (No. 14 overall) and began his career with the Avalanche in 2010-11… Anaheim forward Danton Heinen played at the University of Denver from 2014-16… Anaheim forward Troy Terry was born in Denver and also skated at the University of Denver from 2015-18.

HISTORY

Colorado sports an all-time 42-34-18 mark against Anaheim, including a 6-9-5 record when facing the Ducks in the second half of a back-to-back set. Since the franchise relocated to Denver in 1995-96, the Avalanche owns a 19-15-12 mark when visiting Anaheim. The Avs and Ducks will face off as divisional opponents this year for the first time since the 1997-98 season when the clubs were members of the Pacific Division.
During the 2019-20 campaign, the squads faced each other three times, with the Avalanche owning a 1-1-1 record in the season series. The Avs earned a 1-0 shutout win against the Ducks on Feb. 21, 2020 in the only game played at Honda Center during the series, while dropping two games on home ice. In the three-game series, Colorado was led offensively by Nathan MacKinnon (two goals, one assist) and Gabriel Landeskog (one goal, two assists), while Rickard Rakell (one goal, two assists) and Hampus Lindholm (three assists) guided the Ducks offensive production.

ROSTER REPORT

Head coach Jared Bednar said after Thursday's contest that Philipp Grubauer will be in the crease for the second half of the back-to-back for Colorado, his fourth start this year.

INJURY UPDATE

Goaltender Pavel Francouz remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury after missing two straight games, while forward Andre Burakovsky (upper body) participated in Thursday's morning skate but is also still day-to-day, according to Jared Bednar.

SCOUTING THE DUCKS

The Ducks concluded the 2019-20 season with a 29-33-9 record (67 points), finishing sixth in the Pacific Division. Anaheim holds a 1-2-1 record through the first four games of the current campaign, dropping its first two contests at the Vegas Golden Knights and splitting its first two matchups at home against the Minnesota Wild. The Ducks hold a 6-3-1 record over the Avalanche in the last 10 games between the clubs.
Max Comtois (three goals), Nicolas Deslauriers (two goal, one assists) and Carter Rowney (three assists) are all tied for the team lead in points. Captain Ryan Getzlaf ranks second in scoring and games played in franchise history against the Avalanche, registering 14 goals and 29 helpers in 47 contests. Goaltender John Gibson sports a .935 save percentage and 1.98 goals-against average in 12 matchups versus the Avs.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: CAM FOWLER

Defenseman Cam Fowler is in his 11th season with the Ducks, accumulating 302 points (68 goals and 234 assists) in 683 games. The 12th overall pick in the 2010 draft has one goal in four contests this season and averages 21:51 in time-on-ice, which is third highest on the team.
Against the Avs, Fowler has played the second most games in team history and has recorded five goals and 15 assists in 28 games.

NUMBERS GAME

4x3

The Avalanche have scored a power-play goal in each of its first four games for the third straight season, which is tied for the longest streak in franchise history (1995-98).

6

Nathan MacKinnon passed Peter Forsberg to move into sixth place on the franchise's all-time power-play goals list with his 58th marker on the man advantage in Thursday's game.

9

Colorado's nine power-play goals is the most the club has scored through the first four games of any season in team history. The second most power-play goals through the first four games is seven, which has been done four times (1986-88, 1992-93, and 2003-04). The Avs lead the league in man-advantage tally and boast a 49.2 power-play percentage.

NOTEBOOK

Defenseman Bowen Byram made his NHL debut on Thursday night, while recently acquired blueliner Greg Pateryn made his debut in an Avalanche sweater… For the fifth time in his career, Mikko Rantanen has registered a goal in three-straight contests, tying his longest goal streak (last doing so between Feb. 25-March 1, 2019)… Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon are tied for the league lead in power-play tallies with four points each… Nathan MacKinnon is tied for first in the league in points with seven… The Avs own a 215-250-74 all-time record in the second half of back-to-back games, including a 116-126-38 mark since 1995-96.