Colorado Wraps Up Back-to-Back in Los Angeles

The Colorado Avalanche finishes a back-to-back against the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Saturday. The Avs won the first outing of the consecutive-night set with a 3-2 victory on Friday.
Cale Makar had a goal and assist, Mikko Rantanen scored his 30th of the season and Tyson Jost, who was centering the top line, also tallied. Andre Burakovsky notched two assists to extend his point streak to four games and goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 15 saves. Rookie Alex Newhook picked up his first career NHL point with a helper.
Brendan Lemieux opened the game's scoring with his fourth goal of the season and his second since being acquired by the Kings on March 27. Gabriel Vilardi tallied to put the Kings within one late in the third period, but Los Angeles fell out of contention for the postseason with the loss.

Both teams have four games remaining in the regular season with three of those matchups coming against one another. The clubs will meet in another back-to-back set on Wednesday and Thursday in Denver.

Avalanche at Los Angeles Kings

Staples Center | Los Angeles, Calif.
| Game Time: | 8:00 p.m. | | --- | --- | | TV: | Altitude, Bally Sports West (LAK) | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, AM 950 (KKSE) | | Live Streams: | AltitudeNow.com, Official app (blackouts apply to all) | | Online Audio: | Listen Live Here | | Follow: | @Avalanche, Official app, Gamecenter |

COLORADO-LOS ANGELES CONNECTIONS

Avalanche assistant coach Ray Bennett spent seven years as an assistant coach for the Kings (1999-2006)… Kings general manager Rob Blake played parts of five seasons with Colorado, winning a Stanley Cup with the Avs in 2001… Los Angeles forward Brendan Lemieux was born in Denver and is the son of former Avalanche player Claude Lemieux, who played for the team from 1995-1999… Kings center Trevor Moore played at the University of Denver from 2013-2016.

HISTORY

Since 1995-96, the Avalanche is 43-44-11 against the Kings, including a 18-24-9 mark as the visiting team. In the five meetings between the clubs this year, Colorado sports a 4-1-0 record and scores on its power-play chances 23.5 percent of the time. The team is killing off 82.4 percent of its penalties versus L.A.
Saturday's outing is the final matchup between the clubs at Staples Center this season. The squads will square off two more times, with the contests coming in another back-to-back on Wednesday and Thursday at Ball Arena. The upcoming games in Denver were originally scheduled for April 16 and 18 but were rescheduled due to the league's COVID protocols.

ROSTER REPORT

Jonas Johansson is expected to get the start in net after Philipp Grubauer played on Friday. Johansson has appeared in six games with Colorado since the club acquired him from the Buffalo Sabres on March 21. He has a 3-1-1 record as a member of the Avalanche with a .910 save percentage and 2.27 goals-against average.

INJURY UPDATE

Patrik Nemeth left Friday's contest in the second period after colliding with the boards, and head coach Jared Bednar said postgame that the defenseman doesn't have a concussion and he could be day-to-day. Nathan MacKinnon missed the outing with a lower-body injury and his status for Saturday's outing is unknown. Samuel Girard (lower body) and Brandon Saad (lower body) could possibly return to the lineup prior to the end of the regular season, as the two are participating in off-ice workouts in Denver. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk has been in COVID-19 protocol since Monday while rookie D-man Bowen Byram (upper body) is out week-to-week. Both Matt Calvert (upper body) and Logan O'Connor (lower body) are out long term, with O'Connor recently having surgery. Erik Johnson (upper body) could possibly return later in the playoffs, while goaltender Pavel Francouz (lower body) is out for the remainder of the campaign.

SCOUTING THE KINGS

With the loss on Friday, the Kings officially fell out of contention for the playoffs. The Kings own a 21-25-6 record this season and a 1-4-0 mark against the Avalanche. They will wrap up a three-game homestand on Monday against the St. Louis Blues before finishing the campaign with another back-to-back against Colorado on Wednesday and Thursday at Ball Arena.
Anze Kopitar leads the all active Kings players in goals (17), assists (35) and points (52) in 52 career games against the Avs. The Los Angeles captain also leads the squad in points against Colorado this season with five assists over five games. Adrian Kempe and Gabriel Vilardi lead the club in goals against the Avalanche this year with two each.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: Brendan Lemieux

After scoring his fourth goal of the year on Friday, Kings forward Brendan Lemieux now has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 45 games this year. He began the campaign with the New York Rangers and was acquired by Los Angeles on March 27. Since arriving in Southern California, the 25-year-old has two goals and two assists in 14 games as a member of the Kings. Both of his goals with Los Angeles have come in his past four outings.
Lemieux was born in Denver and is the son of former Avalanche player Claude Lemieux, who played for the team from 1995-1999 and won the Stanley Cup in 1996.

NUMBERS GAME

9

The contest concludes the Avalanche's ninth back-to-back of the season. The Avs are a combined 13-1-3 in back-to-back sets, with a 8-1-0 record in the first game and a 5-0-3 mark in the second. They will attempt to sweep their fourth consecutive back-to-back, which would be a franchise record.

15

The Avs are 15-3-4 in one-goal contests (.682), the fourth-best points percentage in such matchups in the NHL

1,500

Friday's victory was the Avalanche/Nordiques franchise's 1,500th regular season win (1500-1327-261-142). They became the 18th NHL franchise to reach 1,500 and the first among the 1979 WHA expansion teams.

NOTEBOOK

The Avs are 4-1-0 against the Kings, tied for their most wins ever against Los Angeles in a single season (4-0-0 in 2011-12)… Colorado is 6-1-2 on Saturday games this year… Last game, Mikko Rantanen reached the 30-goal mark for the second time in his career (31 in 2018-19). He hit the 30-goal mark in his 48th contest, the second fewest games in Avalanche history (Joe Sakic scored 30 in his 44th contest in 1995-96)… Andre Burakovsky is on a season-best four game point streak. He has three goals and three assists in the stretch… Burakovsky sits one goal shy of 100 in his career… Gabriel Landeskog sits one goal shy of his eighth career 20-goal campaign. Only Joe Sakic and Milan Hejduk (both 11) have more 20-goal seasons since the franchise moved to Denver… Colorado is 14-5-0 in its last 19 games, 22-5-2 in its previous 29 contests and 26-7-3 in last 36… The Avalanche ranks second in goals per game (3.48) and fifth in goals allowed per game (2.46). Six different Avs players have 15 or more goals, the most of any team… After holding a 37-17 edge in shots on goal on Friday, Colorado ranks second in shots per game (34.7) and first in shots-against per game (25.5).