COLORADO AVALANCHE (31-14-3) VS LOS ANGELES KINGS (22-14-9)
7:00 PM MDT | BALL ARENA | WATCH: ALTITUDE TV | LISTEN: 92.5 FM
The Avalanche are set to conclude their third and final matchup with the Kings this season at Ball Arena on Friday. Despite the Kings winning only two of their last 14 games, they boast a record of 14-5-3 on the road. Colorado holds a 12-3-1 record in their last 16 contests and an 19-5-0 mark at home for this campaign.
Latest Results:
January 24, 2024 COL: 6 WSH: 2
January 24, 2024 BUF: 5 LAK: 3
CONQUERING THE CAPITALS
On Wednesday night, Colorado achieved a 6-2 victory against the Capitals. The teams are scheduled to meet again on Feb 13 for their season-series finale at Capital One Arena.
COLORADO AVALANCHE vs WASHINGTON CAPITALS 1.24.2024 RECAP
Cale Makar opened the scoring with a short-handed goal, finding the net with 37 seconds remaining in the opening period. The second period featured Nathan MacKinnon as the lone scorer, achieving a natural hat trick in 6:37. In the final period, Dylan Strome got Washington on the scoreboard off a second-chance effort. Mikko Rantanen extended the lead, sliding one past Charlie Lindgren to make it 5-1. MacKinnon notched his fourth goal of the night with a top shelf wrist shot. Despite Strome's second goal of the game, the Capitals remained in a five-goal deficit, ultimately succumbing to a 6-2 defeat against the Avalanche.
AVS ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Nathan MacKinnon recorded five points (4g/1a) on Wednesday night after posting the second natural hat trick in Avalanche history.
He has recorded 82 points (30g/52a) this season, the second-most in the NHL after Nikita Kucherov extended his total Thursday night to 83 points (32g/51a).
The centerman became the first player to register multiple four-goal games in a season since Alex Ovechkin in 2007-08. He joined Michel Goulet (1985-86) as the only skaters in Avalanche/Nordiques history to do that.
Cale Makar picked up his first career short-handed goal on Wednesday, setting an Avalanche/Nordiques record for most goals by a defenseman in the process with 76 in 281 games.
The defenseman is second in the league for most points (57) and assists (46) among all blueliners. Quinn Hughes holds the top spot with 59 points and 47 assists.
Mikko Rantanen accumulated 5 points (1g/4a) on Wednesday, placing him fourth overall in the NHL point race in 2023-24. He is on pace for a career-high of 111 points by the end of this campaign.
HISTORY
The Avalanche have an all-time record of 69-68-8-8 against the Kings. When playing at home, the Avalanche boast a 38-30-3-3 tally against them. In their most recent 20 encounters with Los Angeles, Colorado has posted a 14-5-1 clip. That stretch included nine straight wins from March 12, 2021 – April 13, 2022. Colorado dropped the last meeting at Ball Arena but hold a 5-1-1 record against them in the last seven matchups in Denver.
BEATEN DOWN IN BUFFALO
Los Angeles suffered a 5-3 defeat against Buffalo in its Wednesday night game. Anze Kopitar opened the scoring by tapping in a cross-ice pass from Adrian Kempe. JJ Peterka tied it with a top shelf rebound past Cam Talbot. Kempe regained the lead, and Pierre-Luc Dubois extended it with a power-play goal, making it 3-1. In the second period, Peterka scored his second goal with a breakaway effort, and Jack Quinn leveled the score with a wrist shot from the slot. In the final frame, Alex Tuch and Dylan Cozens added two of their own to four unanswered goals, resulting in a 5-3 loss for the Kings.
STATS TO KNOW
Mikko Rantanen has recorded 36 points (12g/24a) in 27 games he has played against the Kings in his career.
Cale Makar has picked up a point in his last seven consecutive games against LA, accumulating a total of 13 points (3g/10a) in that stretch. Across his entire career against the Kings, with just 14 games played, Makar has tallied 18 points (5g/14a).
Nathan MacKinnon has registered 10 points (5g/5a) in the last 10 games played against the Kings.
LA LANDMARKS
Adrian Kempe is currently leading in points for the Kings with 42 points (16g/26a) in 45 games in the 2023-24 season.
Drew Doughty is tied for third in the league for most goals among defenseman at 11. Rasmus Dahlin leads with 13 goals.
NUMBERS GAME
24
Nathan MacKinnon surpassed Joe Sakic’s home point streak record, securing a point in each of the 24 home games this season. Sakic’s previous record of 23 consecutive home game points was set during the 2000-01 campaign.
183
Colorado currently leads the league in goals this season with a total of 183 after surpassing Vancouver. The Avalanche maintain an average of 3.81 goals per game, while the Canucks trail with 181 goals and a 3.77 average.
26
Alexander Georgiev currently leads all NHL goaltenders in wins as he approaches the All-Star weekend with 26 victories. The 27-year-old is on pace to surpass his previous record of 40 wins from the 2022-23 season, aiming for a total of 44 wins.
QUOTE(S) THAT LEFT A MARK
“Here’s the thing – he’s always been the most dedicated guy off the ice since I’ve been here. It started last year, he’s carried it through the summer, but what he’s doing this year, he’s really consistent with it. And again, I’m talking going from great to elite habits. Or elite to super elite habits off the ice, but he’s found something with his desire to get better and his drive and his education of his off-ice training. He’s always looking for the edge, right? And he’s found what clearly is working for him. He just doesn’t have many nights where he doesn’t have his legs or energy, and if it is, it’s probably my fault for playing him too much the night before.”
- Colorado Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar on Nathan MacKinnon’s habits off of the ice
