Colorado Avalanche (12-9-0) @ Tampa Bay Lightning (10-7-2)
5 p.m. MT | Amalie Arena | Watch: Altitude2, Altitude+ | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (950 AM)
The Avalanche, owners of a three-game win streak, travel from Florida’s east coast to its west coast to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. This is the second and final meeting between the teams this season, as the Lightning beat the Avalanche 5-2 in Denver on October 30.
Latest Result (COL): COL 7, FLA 4
Latest Result (TBL): DAL 4, TBL 2
Defeating the Defending Champs
The Burgundy and Blue beat the Florida Panthers 7-4 on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena. Jonathan Drouin scored his first two goals of the season and Mikko Rantanen posted a four-point night. Additionally, Valeri Nichushkin recorded his first three points of the season. Florida opened the scoring at 52 seconds of the first period with a Carter Verhaeghe right-circle wrist shot. Scoring his first of the night and of the season, Drouin tied the game with a net-front rebound at 9:13 of the first. The Panthers took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission after Aleskander Barkov scored from the doorstep at 15:44. However, the Avalanche would respond quickly, as Drouin scored his second of the night at 34 seconds of the middle frame with a backhand shot from the doorstep off a great feed from Cale Makar. At 4:04 of the second period, Logan O’Connor joined Drouin as Avs to score their second goal of the season when he finished off a breakaway thanks to a fantastic set up from Oliver Kylington. Samuel Girard joined the fun when he scored his second goal of the year at 8:54 of the period when his wrist shot deflected off the skate of a Panthers player and in. At 16:58 of the middle frame, Rantanen finished off a perfectly executed passing sequence with a tap-in from the right doorstep off a feed from Girard, who received Devon Toews’ pass. The Panthers got a goal back on the power play at 18:40 of the middle frame when Sam Reinhart redirected Aaron Ekblad’s shot past Alexandar Georgiev. The Avs restored their three-goal lead at 15:49 of the third period when Kylington scored his first goal of the season with a wrist shot from the slot off Nichushkin’s centering feed. Nichushkin then scored his first of the year on an empty net at 17:15 of the third to give the Avs a 7-3 lead. Florida got one back from Anton Lundell at 18:17, but it was too little, too late for the defending champs. With the win, the Avalanche improved to 12-9-0.
Among the League’s Best
Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL in points (35) and assists (28).
Makar leads NHL defensemen in goals (8), assists (22), and points (30). Among all NHL skaters, he’s tied for seventh in points and tied for third in assists.
Rantanen is fourth in the NHL in goals (14) and tied for fourth in points (30).
The Avs became the first team to have three players hit the 30-point mark 21 games into the season since the 2005-06 Ottawa Senators.
History
In 44 previous regular-season meetings, the Avalanche are 25-16-7 against the Lightning, and 4-2 against them in the playoffs, beating them in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final.
Defeat Against Dallas
The Lightning lost to the Dallas Stars 4-2 on Saturday at Amalie Arena. Tampa Bay’s Anthony Cirelli opened the scoring at 4:09 of the first period before Dallas’ Evgeni Dadonov tied the game at 6:05 of the opening frame. Cirelli doubled his tally at 8:34 of the first, but Dallas answered again with a goal by Miro Heiskanen at 15:49 of the opening period. After a scoreless second period, Dallas scored twice in the third with goals by Matt Duchene at 6:55 and Roope Hintz at 7:53 to win the game.
Lethal Against the Lightning
In 20 regular-season contests against the Lightning, MacKinnon has posted 31 points (11g/20a), in addition to six points (2g/4a) in six playoff games against them.
Makar has recorded eight points (2g/6a) in seven regular-season games against Tampa Bay in addition to seven points (3g/4a) in six playoff games.
Rantanen has registered 10 points (3g/7a) in 14 regular-season meetings against the Lightning as well as eight points (8a) in eight playoff games.
Lightning Who Light the Lamp
Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning in points (29), assists (18), and is tied for first in goals (11).
Brayden Point is tied for first on the team in goals (11).
Brandon Hagel and Cirelli are tied for second on the team in points (21).
A Numbers Game
6
The Avalanche have won six games this season after trailing first, which is tied for the second most in the NHL.
100
Makar recorded his 100th-career multi-point game on Saturday, which is the most in franchise history among defensemen.
5
Georgiev’s five-game win streak is the longest active streak among NHL netminders and the longest by an Avalanche goalie this season.
Quote That Left a Mark
"[We had a] real good defending commitment tonight. It led to good offense. [We had] smart puck play. If we had a play, we tried to take advantage of it. If we didn't, we laid [the puck] back in behind and got our forecheck rolling. I felt like we were a hard team to handle tonight in a lot of different areas."
-- Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar on Saturday’s performance against the Panthers
