Florida Panthers (24-14-2) @ Colorado Avalanche (24-15-1)
7 p.m. MT | Ball Arena | Watch: Altitude, Altitude+ | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)
For the first and only time this regular season, the Avalanche will host the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers. This is the second and final meeting between the teams this season, as the Avalanche won their first meeting in Sunrise 7-4 on November 23.
Latest Result (COL): MTL 2, COL 1 (SO)
Latest Result (FLA): PIT 2, FLA 3 (SO)
A Loss to the Habs
The Avalanche lost 2-1 in a shootout to the Montreal Canadiens at Ball Arena on Saturday. Despite the loss, Mikko Rantanen reached a milestone and joined an exclusive club of Avs players with his 100th power-play goal. In net for Colorado, Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves, including several grade-A stops. He made nine saves in the third period and a crucial save in overtime. Rantanen became the fifth player in franchise history to reach the century mark of power-play goals with his goal to open the scoring at 9:01 of the first period. He scored from the right doorstep off a fantastic feed from Nathan MacKinnon.
At 13:25 of the third period, Cole Caufield tied the game with a right-circle wrist shot off the rush. In overtime, the Avalanche were tasked with killing off a penalty, and they did just that to extend the game. After a scoreless overtime, the game headed to a shootout. In the first round, Jonathan Drouin was stopped while Caufield scored, and in the second round, Nick Suzuki and Rantanen were both denied. In the third round, Kirby Dach scored the winner for Montreal.
A Mile High on the Leaderboards
Nate the Great
MacKinnon leads the NHL in points (65) and assists (51).
All Hail Cale
Cale Makar leads NHL defensemen in goals (13), assists (36) and points (49). Among all skaters, he’s sixth in assists and 10th in points.
Moose Crossing
Rantanen is tied for second in goals (23), third in points (57) and tied for seventh in assists (34).
History
In 43 previous regular-season meetings, the Avalanche are 24-12-7 against the Panthers. The teams have met once in the playoffs, with Colorado sweeping Florida 4-0 to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in 1996.
A Shootout Win in Sunrise
The Panthers beat the Penguins 3-2 in a shootout at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday. After a scoreless first period, Gustav Forsling opened the scoring for Florida at 36 seconds of the middle frame. More than halfway through the second period, Sidney Crosby tied the game at 11:09 with a power-play goal. In the third period, Matthew Tkachuk put Florida up 2-1 with a power-play tally at 8:48 before Rickard Rakell scored a power-play goal at 19:20 to send the game to overtime. Following a scoreless overtime, the Panthers won in the shootout thanks to goals from Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell.
Productive Against the Panthers
MacKinnon has posted 17 points (8g/9a) in 21 games against the Panthers.
In eight previous matchups with Florida, Makar has registered five points (1g/4a).
In 13 games against the Panthers, Rantanen has recorded 19 points (6g/13a), including four points (1g/3a) in their first matchup of the season.
Flourishing in Florida
Reinhart leads the Panthers in goals (22) and points (46) while being tied for first in assists (24).
Tkachuk is second on the team in goals (14) and points (36) while ranking third in assists (22).
Aleksander Barkov is tied for first on the Panthers in assists (24) while ranking third in points (35) and fourth in goals (11).
A Numbers Game
.917
Blackwood’s .917 save percentage is the fifth best in the league this season among goalies with at least 10 games played.
22
During his active 13-game point streak, Rantanen has posted 22 points (8g/14a).
23
The Avalanche’s 23 points (11-3-1) since the start of December is tied for the third most in the NHL.
Quote That Left a Mark
"He's been phenomenal. Not just [on the] power play, but obviously that's a strength of his. He's one of those one-shot goal-scorers. When you need a big goal, we saw it the other night (Thursday), you need a big goal, you've got a guy over there that can score from all kinds of areas on that side of the ice and on the power play."
-- Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar on Mikko Rantanen’s 100-career power-play goals
