Colorado Avalanche (41-25-3) @ Ottawa Senators (36-26-5)
5 p.m. MT | Canadian Tire Centre | Watch: Altitude, Altitude+ | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)
After a tightly contested game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Avalanche travel to Canada’s capital to face the Ottawa Senators.
Defeat on the Road
The Avalanche lost 2-1 to the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday. Valeri Nichushkin extended his goal streak to three games and the Avalanche registered 38 shots on goal. In net for Colorado, Mackenzie Blackwood made 24 saves on 26 shots. Toronto’s Auston Matthews opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 28 seconds of the middle frame. Nichushkin answered for the Avs on the power play at 2:48 of the second period with his 18th goal of the season via a one-timer from the slot set up by Nathan MacKinnon’s feed. After a weird bounce on a Toronto clearing attempt, Steven Lorentz scored a short-handed goal at 2:53 of the third period to give the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead.
Leading the Way
Nate the Great
MacKinnon leads the NHL in points (104) and assists (77).
All Hail Cale
Cale Makar leads NHL defensemen in points (79), goals (25) and assists (54). Among all NHL skaters, he’s seventh in assists and 10th in points.
A Marty Party
Martin Necas is tied for 10th in the NHL in assists (50).
History
In 42 previous regular-season matchups against the Senators, the Avalanche are 24-14-4 including 8-0-1 in their last nine games. Earlier this season, the Avalanche beat the Senators 5-4 on October 27th in Denver.
Meeting in Montreal
The Senators lost 6-3 to the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Tuesday. In the first period, Montreal’s Christian Dvorak opened the scoring at 2:07 before Ottawa’s Drake Batherson tied the game at 16:42. Ottawa’s Michael Amadio scored the lone second-period goal to give his team a 2-1 lead at 12:38. Lane Hutson tied the game for Montreal at 3:38 of the third period. At 6:13 of the third, Travis Hamonic regained Ottawa’s lead before Montreal’s Josh Anderson tied the game at 10:22. Nick Suzuki gave the Canadiens a 4-3 lead on the power play at 15:23. The Canadiens added two empty-net goals from Anderson at 18:16 and Brendan Gallagher at 19:01.
Scoring Against the Senators
MacKinnon has posted 33 points (10g/23a) in 20 games against the Senators.
In eight games against Ottawa, Makar has recorded 11 points (4g/7a).
Artturi Lehkonen has registered 19 points (10g/9a) in 25 games against the Senators.
Senators’ Stars
Tim Stutzle leads the Senators in points (68) and assists (48) while being second in goals (20).
Brady Tkachuk leads Ottawa in goals (27) and is third in points (53).
Batherson is second on the Senators in points (55) while being third in goals (19) and assists (36).
A Numbers Game
2.00
The Avalanche are allowing 2.00 goals per game since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off, the second fewest in the NHL.
.917
Since December 2nd, Scott Wedgewood has posted a .917 save percentage, which is the eighth best among NHL goaltenders with at least 14 appearances during that span.
7
Since returning to the lineup on February 26th, Nichushkin’s seven goals are tied for the second most in the league during that span.
Quote That Left a Mark
"I can't fault our guys for the effort. I thought we were engaged right away from the drop of the puck. We had good jump and did a lot of really good things during that game."
-- Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar on the team’s performance against the Maple Leafs
