Utah Hockey Club (12-11-5) @ Colorado Avalanche (17-13-0)
7 p.m. MT | Ball Arena | Watch: Altitude, My20, Altitude+ | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)
After going 4-1-0 on a five-game road trip, the Avalanche return home to host the Utah Hockey Club for the first time in NHL history. This is the second of three meetings between the teams this season, as the Avs beat Utah 5-1 in Salt Lake City on October 24 and they’ll play again in Utah on December 27.
Latest Result (COL): COL 6, PIT 2
Latest Result (UTA): MIN 5, UTA 4 (SO)
Winning in Western Pennsylvania
The Avalanche beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-2 on Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena. Mikko Rantanen celebrated his 600th NHL game by posting the 10th hat trick of his career. He wasn’t the only Av achieving a milestone, as Nathan MacKinnon posted a goal and four assists to reach 600 career assists.
MacKinnon used his elite speed to dash down the left-wing side and opened the scoring with a left-circle wrist shot at 6:31 of the first period. That goal marked the 362nd tally that both MacKinnon and Rantanen factored in on, passing Anton and Peter Stastny for the most in franchise history. The Avs doubled their lead at 18:22 of the first when Rantanen took a nifty feed from Cale Makar, made several dekes, and chipped the puck over Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry. Rantanen put the Burgundy and Blue up 3-0 at 5:46 of the second period with his signature Finn-ish, a right-circle one-timer. The Penguins answered with a pair of second-period goals from Cody Glass at 7:21 and Michael Bunting at 18:53 to enter the second intermission down just one.
Up a goal to start the third period, the Avs dominated the final frame, outscoring the Penguins 3-0. It started when Valeri Nichushkin skated down the right-wing side and drove to the net to score his seventh goal of the year and double Colorado’s lead. Becoming the third member of his line to score a goal, Artturi Lehkonen tallied his eighth of the season with a shot from the right doorstep at 12:21 to give the Avs a commanding three-goal lead. Rantanen helped the Avs continue to pour it on when he completed his third hat trick of the season with an empty-net goal at 15:08 of the third. On the goal, MacKinnon picked up his fourth assists of the night and 600th of his career on the goal. After a dominating final frame, the Avs won 6-2 and improved to 17-13-0.
Rocky Mountain Rockstars
Nate the Great
MacKinnon became the fourth player in franchise history to record 600 assists and leads the NHL in helpers (36) and points (46).
Moose Crossing
Rantanen recorded his league-leading third hat trick of the season while no other NHL player has more than one. He’s tied for third in the NHL in goals (18) and fourth in points (42).
All Hail Cale
Makar leads all NHL defensemen in assists (27) and points (36) and is tied for first in goals (9). Among all NHL skaters, he’s fifth in assists.
All Aboard!
Since November 23, Nichushkin is tied for third in the NHL in goals (7). In that time, he’s played in 10 games and posted 11 points (7g/4a).
Up All Night to Get Lehky
Since making his 2024-25 debut on November 5, Lehkonen is second on the team in goals (8), which ranks tied for 17th among all NHL skaters in that span. He’s posted four goals in his last five games.
Salt Lake Scoring Fest
Utah lost 5-4 in a shootout to the Minnesota Wild at the Delta Center on Tuesday. Utah’s Kevin Stenlund opened the scoring at 13:46 of the first before Minnesota scored two second-period goals from Marat Khusnutdinov at 14:25 and Kirill Kaprizov at 15:01 to take a 2-1 lead into the third period. Clayton Keller evened the score at 4:42 of the third with a power-play goal before Marcus Johansson gave the Wild a 3-2 lead 77 seconds later at 5:39. Keller answered with his second power-play goal of the game at 9:54 and Utah took a 4-3 lead with a Juuso Valimaki goal at 11:45. Marco Rossi tied the game and scored the final goal of regulation at 19:16. In the shootout, Minnesota’s Matt Boldy was the lone goal-scorer, tallying in the third round.
Salt Lake City’s Scorers
Keller leads Utah in points (26) and is tied for first in assists (17).
Dylan Guenther leads the team in goals (10) and second in points (25).
Logan Cooley is third on the team in points (22) and tied for third in assists (15).
A Numbers Game
1
MacKinnon has posted 945 points and is one point from tying Michel Goulet (946) for the third most in franchise history.
.944
Avalanche goalie Scott Wedgewood has posted a .944 save percentage in four appearances since joining the club via trade.
102
Makar’s 102 multi-point games in the regular season since entering the NHL are the most by a defenseman and 10 more than Roman Josi, who is second on the list.
Quote That Left a Mark
"He's [the] best player in the world. And [he's] making plays every night. [He's] playing hard and [he's] very dedicated to get better every day. And again, tonight he was on his game and making plays. [He] got the early goal for us which was huge for us. It's fun to play with him."
-- Mikko Rantanen on Nathan MacKinnon and his performance on Tuesday
