Game Preview: Avalanche vs. Kings

COLORADO AVALANCHE (35-21-6) VS LOS ANGELES KINGS (37-20-8)
7 PM MT | BALL ARENAWATCH:ALTITUDELISTEN: 92.5FM/950 AM
The Colorado Avalanche face off against the Los Angeles Kings Thursday night at Ball Arena. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. MT on Altitude Sports.

LAST TIME OUT

Colorado defeated the San Jose Sharks, 6-0, on Tuesday night. Alexandar Georgiev secured his third shutout of the season, turning away 13 shots. Cale Makar matched his career-high of four points (1G, 3A) and set a new personal best of a +5 plus/minus rating. Valeri Nichushkin also equaled his career best with a four point performance (1G, 3A) and a +4 plus/minus. Mikko Rantanen scored his team-leading 42nd goal of the season, tied for third in the NHL. Andrew Cogliano skated in his 1,200th NHL game, becoming the 127th player in NHL history and 13th active player to reach 1,200 games. Nathan MacKinnon tallied two points (1G, 1A) for his 200th career multi-point outing.
Riding a four-game winning streak, Los Angeles enters Thursday's game coming off a 4-2 victory against the Washington Capitals on Monday. Adrian Kempe scored his team-leading 30th goal of the season and added an assist. Phillip Danault, Mikey Anderson and newly aquired Vladislav Gavrikov (via Columbus) all found the back of the net as well. Pheonix Copley made 20 saves.

HISTORY

Colorado owns an 67-66-16 record against the Kings, with a 38-29-6 mark at home.
Since the franchise moved to Denver, the Avs hold a 49-44-12 record versus Los Angeles.
Thursday's matchup is the second of three meetings between the two teams this season, with the final matchup in Los Angeles on April 8. In the first outing, the Kings rallied to a 5-4 shootout win over the Avs in Denver on December 29. Cale Makar notched three points (1G, 2A), while Evan Rodrigues (1G, 1A) and Mikko Rantanen (0G, 2A) both recorded two points.

SCOUTING THE KINGS

Kevin Fiala paces Los Angeles in scoring with 67 points (22G, 45A) and leads the team in assists. Anze Kopitar is in second with 58 points (25G, 33A).
Copley holds a 20-4-2 record between the pipes this season, with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage.

LINEUP UPDATES

Avalanche

Pavel Francouz Lower body
Darren HelmLower body
Erik Johnson Lower body
Gabriel LandeskogLower body
Josh Manson Lower body

Kings

Trevor Moore Upper body

DOING THE MOST

Mikko Rantanen leads all-active Avs skaters with 30 points (10G, 20A) in 23 games against the Kings franchise.

BEHIND ENEMY LINES

Kopitar has recorded 53 points (18G, 35A)in 59 games against the Avalanche, which is the Kings all-time franchise leader in scoring.

NUMBERS GAME

+30
The Avalanche outshot the Sharks by a 30 shot differential (43-13) in Tuesday's game, which is the largest shot margin this season for Colorado.
7
In Tuesday's game against San Jose, MacKinnon extended his home goal streak to seven games, on shy of matching the franchise record held by Joe Sakic (8, Jan. 26-March 3, 2001) and Michel Goulet (8, Nov. 26, 1983-Jan. 3, 1984).
4
Alexandar Georgiev tallied his fourth shutout of the season Tuesday night, tied for third in the league.