Colorado Avalanche (3-4-0) @ Utah Hockey Club (4-2-1)
7 p.m. MT | Delta Center | Watch: Altitude TV, 9News, My20, Altitude+ | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (950 AM)
The Avalanche will look to win their fourth-straight game when they conclude their road trip against the Utah Hockey Club. A rivalry of the Rockies begins tonight with this historic matchup as the two teams play each other for the first time.
Latest Result (COL): COL 3, SEA 2
Latest Result (UTA): OTT 4, UTA 0
Avalanche vs. Kraken 10.22.24 Recap
The Avalanche extended their winning streak to three games when they beat the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday. Joel Kiviranta opened the scoring with his second goal in as many games with a wrist shot from the high slot late in the first period. Seattle evened the score midway through the second period with a goal from Jared McCann from the low slot. Kiviranta gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead 14:56 of the second period with a deflection from the right doorstep for his third goal of the season. Nathan MacKinnon doubled Colorado’s lead at 19:52 of the second period with a power-play goal. With Seattle’s net empty, Ryker Evans scored to cut the Kraken deficit to one with five seconds left in regulation, but it wasn’t enough to complete the comeback.
Avs Accomplishments
With his assist on MacKinnon’s goal, Cale Makar claimed the franchise record for most power-play points by a defenseman with 151.
Makar, the NHL’s leader in points with 14 (2g/12a), recorded a pair of assists on Tuesday and joined Paul Coffey and Bobby Orr as the only defensemen in NHL history to record 12 assists in their team’s first seven games of the season.
MacKinnon is tied for third in the NHL in points with 12 (3g/9a) and Mikko Rantanen is tied for seventh with 11 points (4g/7a). The Avalanche are the only team in the NHL with three players in the top 10 among point leaders.
Devon Toews appeared in his 400th NHL regular-season game on Tuesday. Since being acquired by the Avalanche ahead of the 2021 season, he’s posted 189 points (41g/148a) in 284 games. Additionally, since entering the NHL in 2018-19, Toews’ +155 plus/minus rating is the league’s best.
Stymied by the Senators
Utah Hockey Club was shutout by the Ottawa Senators 4-0 at the Delta Center on Tuesday. Drake Batherson opened the scoring at 11:43 of the first period before Claude Giroux doubled Ottawa’s lead 83 seconds later at 13:06 of the opening frame. Ottawa’s first period scoring continued when Ridly Greig put the Senators up 3-0 with a power-play goal at 18:05 before Brady Tkachuk made it 4-0 at 19:52.
Stats to Know
In his last two starts, goaltender Justus Annunen has posted a record of 2-0-0 along with a save percentage of .943, stopping 50 of 53 shots.
Makar and MacKinnon are tied for the NHL lead in multi-point games with five.
With goals in each of the last two games, Kiviranta has posted his first-career multi-game goal streak.
Utah Hockey Club by the Numbers
Clayton Keller leads the team in points with eight (4g/4a), while Nick Schmaltz is second with seven (7a).
Dylan Guenther leads the team with five goals while Keller and Barrett Hayton are tied for second with four goals.
In goal for Utah, Connor Ingram has posted a record of 4-1-1 along with a .861 save percentage and a 3.82 goals-against average.
Numbers Game
10
The Avalanche are 10th in the NHL and fourth in the Western Conference in goals per game with 3.43.
37.5
Colorado’s 37.5% power-play is the third-best in the NHL while the Avalanche are tied for first in the league with nine power-play goals.
7
The Avalanche are tied for seventh in the NHL in first-period goals with seven.
Quote That Left a Mark
“If you look at all of our games over the course of a year, they’re very impactful and on the scoresheet a lot. I think the difference between this year is we need them to be that way right out of the gate because of players that are missing from our lineup.”
-- Jared Bednar on the importance of Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar scoring at least a point in each of the team’s first seven games
