Avalanche Opens Four-Game Set with Golden Knights on Sunday

The Colorado Avalanche returns to game action by taking on the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena. It is the first of a four-game set between the clubs and Colorado's first game in 12 days.
The Avs earned a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Feb. 2 at Ball Arena, improving to 7-3-1 on the campaign. Colorado has collected at least a point in a season-best five-consecutive contests, going 4-0-1 over the stretch. Valeri Nichushkin tallied his second game-winning goal of the season, tied for first on the team with Gabriel Landeskog. Logan O'Connor scored for the second time in three outings, while linemate Kiefer Sherwood registered his second assist in four contests. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer recorded his fourth-straight win and seventh victory of the year, denying 27-of-28 shots.

The Golden Knights collected their ninth win of the season on Saturday, defeating the San Jose Sharks 3-1 in the first game of a back-to-back set for the club. Chandler Stephenson (one goal, one assist) and Alec Martinez (two assists) registered multi-point games, while Mark Stone and Jonathan Marchessault added a tally each. Netminder Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves, securing his sixth victory of the campaign.
Sunday's game is the first of four-straight between the Avalanche and Golden Knights. Vegas will be the first opponent to ever play the Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques four consecutive times in the regular season. The Avs and Wild were supposed to face off in four uninterrupted meetings from Jan. 30 to Feb. 4, but the final game of that stretch was postponed. Colorado is also scheduled to face off against the same opponent for four-straight games one more time this campaign, playing the Sharks in four-successive meetings April 30-May 5.

Avalanche at Golden Knights

T-Mobile Arena | Las Vegas, Nev.
| Game Time: | 5:00 p.m. | | --- | --- | | TV: | NBCSN | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, AM 950 (KKSE) | | Live Streams: | NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, Official app (blackouts apply to all) | | Online Audio: | Listen Live Here | | Follow: | @Avalanche, Official app, Gamecenter |

COLORADO-VEGAS CONNECTIONS

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare played two seasons with Vegas after they selected him in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft… Nick Holden played three seasons with Colorado from 2013-2016.

HISTORY

The Avalanche sports a 5-3-0 mark against the Golden Knights since Vegas entered the league in 2017-18. When visiting T-Mobile Arena, Colorado owns a 2-3-0 record, including a 2-0-0 mark in the last two games in Southern Nevada.
The Avs swept the Golden Knights in the two-game, regular-season series in 2019-20. The club earned a 6-1 victory in Vegas on Oct. 25, with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare recording a goal and two assists against his former team, while Matt Calvert and Nazem Kadri tallied two goals each. In the second matchup, Colorado defeated the Golden Knights 7-3 on Dec. 23 at T-Mobile Arena, as six different players tallied for the club with Pierre-Edouard Bellmare notching two of his own.
It is the first time in franchise history that the clubs will face off as division foes. Since 2017-2018, Colorado has been a part of the Central Division while the Golden Knights were in the Pacific Division.

ROSTER REPORT

Nathan MacKinnon, Devon Toews and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare are all expected to return to the lineup after missing games prior to Colorado's temporary layoff due to the league's COVID-19 protocols. Due to Gabriel Landeskog and Tyson Jost being out, Jayson Megna could make his season debut along with Sheldon Dries suiting up for his second-straight game. Philipp Grubauer will likely make his 10th appearance in the pipes.

INJURY UPDATE

Goaltender Pavel Francouz (lower body) is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury and defenseman Erik Johnson is still recovering from his upper-body injury. Forward Matt Calvert (upper body) has missed five games this season but is expected to resume skating on his own this weekend. Erik Johnson was placed on the Injured Reserve due to an upper-body injury. Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog, and Samuel Girard will miss Sunday's contest due to the NHL's COVID-19 protocol.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS

The Golden Knights sit in second place of the West Division with 19 points (9-2-1), winning four out of their last five outings. Vegas leads the league in wins at home, sporting a 7-1-1 mark at T-Mobile Arena. It is the second game in two days for the squad, which is finishing its first back-to-back set of the season. Last year, the club went 9-2-0 in the second contest of these sets, tallying 3.64 goals per game and allowing 2.36 notches per game.
Through 12 contests this campaign, forwards Mark Stone (four goals, 12 assists) and Max Pacioretty (six goals, five assists) have led the way offensively for the club, while Marc-Andre Fleury has been solid in net, owning a 6-1-0 record with a 1.58 goals-against average and .935 save percentage. Forward Jonathan Marchessault is the all-time leading scorer against the Avalanche in Golden Knights history, compiling three goals and four assists in eight games.
Tomas Nosek will miss Sunday's matchup after being added to the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list on Wednesday.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: MARK STONE

Mark Stone was named the first captain of the Vegas Golden Knights at the beginning of this campaign. After being acquired by the club at the 2018-19 trade deadline, the forward has registered 30 goals and 60 assists in 95 games, averaging the most points per game in franchise history (0.95). Stone leads Vegas and ranks ninth in the NHL with 12 even-strength points (three goals, nine assists) in 12 games.
Against the Avs, Stone has recorded 10 points (six goals, four assists) in 13 games with the Golden Knights and Ottawa Senators.

NUMBERS GAME

5

With an assist each on Feb. 2 against the Wild, Joonas Donskoi and Cale Makar extended their respective point streaks to five games. Both stretches equal their personal bests, with Donskoi scoring three goals and added two assists in his streak and Makar tallying seven points (one goal, six assists) over the stretch.

8

Nathan MacKinnon is the all-time franchise scoring leader against the Golden Knights, collecting eight points (one goal, seven assists) in eight games.

300 + 600

Valeri Nichushkin is expected to play in his 300th career game while Brandon Saad is expected to skate in his 600th NHL contest. Nichushkin has registered 38 markers and 66 helpers in 299 career games while Saad has recorded 355 points (174 goals, 181 assists) in his time in the league.

NOTEBOOK

Sunday's outing marks the 11th time that the Avs will play on Valentine's Day. Colorado sports a 5-4-1 record on the day and has won its last two Valentine's Day matchups, defeating the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 on Feb. 14, 2019 in Manitoba and the Montreal Canadiens 2-0 on Feb. 14, 2018 in Denver… The Avs hold a 3-2-1 record on the road this year, splitting all three away series so far this season... Pierre-Edouard Bellemare looks to extend his two-game point streak against the Golden Knights. The forward lead the Avalanche last season with three goals and two assists in two games versus Vegas… It is first of eight games between the clubs and the first of four at T-Mobile Arena… Colorado owns the best man-advantage unit in the league, scoring on 89.7 percent of power-play opportunities.