Colorado Avalanche (9-9-0) @ Philadelphia Flyers (8-8-2)
5 p.m. MT | Wells Fargo Center | Watch: Altitude, NHL Network, Altitude+ | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)
The Avalanche embark on a four-game road trip that starts against the Flyers in Philadelphia on Monday. This is the first of two matchups between these teams, as they’ll meet in Denver on February 2.
Latest Result (COL): WSH 5, COL 2
Latest Result (PHI): BUF 0, PHI 4
Defeat Against Washington D.C.’s Team
The Avalanche lost to the Washington Capitals 5-2 on Friday at Ball Arena. Parker Kelly opened the scoring with his first goal of the season to put the Avs up 1-0 at 2:00 of the first period. Washington answered with three-straight goals courtesy of Jakub Vrana and a pair from Connor McMichael. The Burgundy and Blue got one back when Nikolai Kovalenko scored his second goal of the season at 4:03 of the middle frame. The Capitals scored the final two goals of the game with Jakob Chychrun scoring at 9:21 of the middle frame and Rasmus Sandin adding an empty-net tally at 19:57 of the third period.
Dominating the Leaderboards
Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL in points (33) and assists (26).
Cale Makar leads NHL defensemen in goals (6), assists (19), and points (25). He’s tied for eighth among all NHL skaters in points.
Mikko Rantanen is tied for fourth in the NHL in goals (12) and tied for eighth in points (25).
History
In 43 previous regular-season meetings, the Avalanche have a 24-13-6 record against the Flyers. The teams split the season series in 2023-24 while the Avalanche have won seven of the last 10 meetings dating back to the start of the 2018-19 season.
A Big Win Against Buffalo
The Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday where former Av and current Flyer defensemen Erik Johnson skated in his 1,000th NHL game. The Flyers took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission with goals from Tyson Foerster at 13:57 and Travis Sanheim at 16:01. Philadelphia doubled its lead with two more goals in the second period from Egor Zamula at 2:08 and Travis Konecny at 17:07. In the third period, the Sabres scored two goals from Rasmus Dahlin at 10:06 and Ryan McLeod at 18:55 before Konecny scored an empty-net goal at 19:42.
Prolific Against Philly
MacKinnon has posted 16 points (5g/11a) in 18 games against the Flyers including five points (3g/2a) in three games last season.
Makar has registered five points (3g/2a) in seven games against Philadelphia.
Rantanen has recorded 15 points (10g/5a) in 15 contests against the Flyers including a pair of goals in two games last season.
Frequent Flyer Scorers
Konecny leads the Flyers in goals (11), assists (11), and points (22).
Rookie Matvei Michkov is second on the team in goals (6), assists (9), and points (15).
Sanheim leads Flyers blueliners in goals (5), assists (6), and points (11).
A Numbers Game
31
Colorado’s power play is converting at 31%, which ranks 3rd in the NHL.
8
Rantanen’s eight goals over his last six games are the most by any player over a six-game span this season.
726
MacKinnon has posted 726 points (267g/459a) since the start of the 2017-18 season, which ranks 3rd in the league in that span.
Quote That Left a Mark
“We’ve been home for a couple of good homestands. To get out east, see a couple different buildings, different environments, different atmosphere, [and] different challenges from those teams. I don’t mind the timing of this road trip at all especially with all the guys coming back.”
-- Jared Bednar on the team’s upcoming road trip
