Game Preview: Avalanche vs. Blackhawks

COLORADO AVALANCHE VS. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
7:30 PM MT | BALL ARENAWATCH: TNTLISTEN: 92.5FM/950 AM
After a short offseason, it's that time of the year again. Hockey is back.
The Colorado Avalanche begin their title defense as they host the Chicago Blackhawks to kick off their 2022-23 season. Coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. MT on TNT with the Stanley Cup Banner Raising Ceremony at Ball Arena.

The Central Division foes meet on Opening Night for the second straight year. Colorado went a perfect 4-0 vs. the Hawks last season, including a 4-2 victory in the season opener.
This is the first of three outings against Chicago this season, with the next matchup in the Windy City on Jan. 12. The Blackhawks travel back to Denver on March 20th to close out the season series.

HISTORY

Wednesday's matchup marks the fourth time that Colorado and Chicago have met in the season opener in franchise history, with the Avs winning all three games.
The Avalanche hold a 75-55-9 all-time record against the Blackhawks and a 55-32-11 mark since moving to Colorado in 1995-96.
Jared Bednar is 5-1 in season openers as head coach of the Avalanche.
ON THIS DAY: On October 12, 2013, Nathan MacKinnon became the 14th youngest player in NHL history to score a goal (18 years, 41 days).
AVALANCHE VS BLACKHAWKS
AVALANCHE ARTICLES
What to Know Ahead of 2022-23 Opening Night
Creating the Colorado Avalanche 2022 Stanley Cup Ring
Francouz Adds Special Touch to Goalie Mask
Samuel Girard 'Free to Go' for Upcoming Season
Landeskog to Miss Start of Season with Lower-Body Injury
Georgiev Getting Settled in Colorado
GAME EXTRAS
Avalanche 360
Avalanche Tickets

SCOUTING THE BLACKHAWKS

Chicago begins the 2022-23 campaign after finishing seventh in the Central Division with a 28-42-12 record.
During the offseason, the Blackhawks traded forward Alex DeBrincat to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for the seventh and 39th picks in the 2022 NHL Draft along with a third-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. Chicago followed it up by letting forwards Dylan Strome and Dominik Kubalik leave in free agency and traded Kirby Dach to the Canadiens for the 13th and 66th selection in the 2022 NHL Draft.
In the last month, the Blackhawks placed several players on injured reserve including Caleb Jones, Jake McCabe, Boris Katchouk, Jason Dickinson and Ian Mitchell.

ROSTER UPDATE

Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog remains out with a lower-body injury to begin the 2022-23 season. Veteran Darren Helm is out for opening night and won't be able to play until, "some time" early in the season, per Bednar. Defenseman Jacob MacDonald is also sidelined due to injury.

DOING THE MOST

Erik Johnson currently holds a +15 plus/minus against the Blackhawks, tied with Peter Forsberg for the highest all-time rating in Avalanche history vs. Chicago.
Nathan MacKinnon has scored four game-winning goals against Chicago, the most in Avs history versus the Blackhawks.

BEHIND ENEMY LINES

Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews rank one and two in all-time points against the Colorado Avalanche as a member of the Blackhawks franchise with 53 and 51 points, respectively.
Toews has scored a franchise-leading 23 goals against the Avs, while Kane follows with 20.
Patrick Kane is on a two-game multi-point game streak versus the Avs, having notched two points (0g/2a) on Jan. 4 and three (2g/1a) in the teams' last matchup on Jan. 28, 2022.

NUMBERS GAME

65.5%The Avs hold a 65.5% win percentage in season openers (24-11-6), good for second among NHL active franchises (min. 20 games).
11.7% Not only did Cale Makar exceed his previous career highs in many categories last season, the Calgary native joined some elite company by consistently putting the puck in the net. Makar is one of nine defensemen all-time to post a shooting percentage of over 11.7% in a season (min. three shot attempts per game). The list includes six Hall of Famers, including Bobby Orr (12.0%, 1974-75), Paul Coffey (3 times, high of 15.6% in 1985-86) and Denis Potvin (2 times, high of 13.1% in 1978-79).
68The Colorado Avalanche posted a franchise-best 68 points at home in the 2021-22 season, which was tied for first in the NHL with the Florida Panthers.

QUOTES THAT LEFT A MARK

"I keep getting asked if I'm going to, chill out now. I don't feel any different. We're still hunting."
-Nathan MacKinnon in an interview with The Canadian Press