Avalanche Finishes Road Trip in Los Angeles

The Colorado Avalanche concludes its three-game road trip at the Los Angeles Kings on Monday.
Colorado is coming off of a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Sunday. Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog both recorded three-point games (one goal, two assists each), while Vladislav Namestnikov (one goal, one assist) and J.T. Compher (two assists) each had two-point nights. Joonas Donskoi scored the eventual game-winning goal in the third period in his return to San Jose, and goalie Pavel Francouz made 22 saves for his 20th win of the year. The Avs improved to 1-1-0 on their current road trip along the west coast.
The Kings defeated the Minnesota Wild 7-3 on Saturday. Dustin Brown registered three goals and added an assist, and Los Angeles scored four times in the third period to extend its winning streak to five games. Anze Kopitar recorded three points with a goal and two assists.

This is the final meeting of a three-game season series between the Avs and Kings. Los Angeles won 3-1 in the first matchup on Feb. 15 at the 2020 NHL Stadium Series while Colorado won 2-1 in a shootout at Staples Center on Feb. 22.

Avalanche at Los Angeles Kings

Staples Center | Los Angeles, Calif.
| Game Time: | 8:30 p.m. MT | | --- | --- | | TV: | Altitude 2, Fox Sports-West (LAK) | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, AM 950 (KKSE) | | Live Streams: | NHL.tv, AltitudeNow.com, ESPN+. Official app(blackouts apply to all) | | Online Audio: | Listen Live Here | | Follow: | @Avalanche, Official app, Gamecenter |

COLORADO-LOS ANGELES CONNECTIONS

Colorado left wing Matt Nieto is from Long Beach… 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 center Trevor Moore played at the University of Denver from 2013-2016.

HISTORY

The Avs and Kings have split the season series so far this campaign. Los Angeles won 3-1 in first matchup at the 2020 NHL Stadium Series at the Air Force Academy on Feb. 15 after scoring the go-ahead goal and an empty-net tally in the last minute of play. Colorado defeated the Kings 2-1 in a shootout on Feb. 22, with Joonas Donskoi scoring the deciding goal in the tiebreaker for the Avs.
In franchise history, Colorado owns a 57-64-15 all-time mark against Los Angeles and has earned points in four of the last five outings against the club (3-1-1).

ROSTER REPORT

Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz started in net for the first half of the back-to-back against San Jose on Sunday, and head coach Jared Bednar after postgame that he'll decide on his starting goaltender on Monday morning... The Avs recalled Martin Kaut from the AHL Colorado Eagles on Monday morning.

INJURY UPDATE

Andre Burakovsky (upper body/lower body), Matt Calvert (lower body), Philipp Grubauer (lower body), Nazem Kadri (lower body), Cale Makar (upper body) and Mikko Rantanen (upper body) are all making progress from their respective injuries, with many of them resuming skating back in Denver… Colin Wilson (lower body) continues to rehab and do off-ice training following two surgeries earlier this season.

SCOUTING THE KINGS

Los Angeles has a 27-35-6 record and 60 points on the season to rank last in the Pacific Division. The Kings score on 17.1 percent of their power-play opportunities and average a 77-percent success rate on the penalty kill. Los Angeles has won seven games in overtime this season, tied for the sixth most in the NHL.
The Kings' current five-game winning streak is a season long, and the team is 8-2-1 in its last 11 contests.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: Dustin Brown

Dustin Brown ranks third on the Kings with 35 points (17 goals, 18 assists) this season. Brown recorded a third period hat trick and also added an assist on Saturday against the Wild to help bring the Kings the win; it was the sixth time in his career that he's scored three goals in a game. He's taken 161 shots this season, third-most on Los Angeles.
Brown was selected in the first round (No. 13 overall) of the 2003 draft by the Kings. He's tallied 653 points (299 goals, 354 assists) in 1,181 career outings.

NUMBERS GAME

9

Following the outing in Los Angeles, the Avs will play nine of the remaining 13 regular season games at Pepsi Center.

24

Colorado has won a league-leading 24 games on the road this season. This is tied for the second-most road victories in franchise history, behind only the 2013-14 campaign (26).

29

Nathan MacKinnon recorded his 29th multi-point game of the season on Sunday, setting a new career high after producing 28 such games last season. It is the most multiple-point outings for an Avalanche player since Peter Forsberg had 28 in the 2002-03 campaign and is tied with the Boston Bruins' David Pastrnak for the second most in the NHL this season.

NOTEBOOK

This game wraps up Colorado's 12th and final back-to-back set of the season… The Avs improved to 9-3-0 in the first contest and are 7-4-1 in the second… The Avalanche has swept six of its 11 back-to-back sets and each of its last three, including Feb. 21-22 when it won both of its games at the Anaheim Ducks and L.A. Kings… Gabriel Landeskog is on an eight-game point streak (five goals, eight assists), one shy of tying his career long set Jan. 24-Feb. 8, 2014… Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL with 317 shots so far this season… Colorado had its franchise-record (tied), 11-game penalty kill streak come to an end in San Jose… The Avalanche ranks tied for third in the league averaging 3.41 goals per game… The Avs have won seven of their last nine games by a one-goal margin… Colorado's plus-47 goal differential ranks first in the Western Conference and third in the league.