Game Preview: Avalanche vs. Oilers

COLORADO AVALANCHE (30-19-5) AT EDMONTON OILERS (30-19-7)
1 PM MT | BALL ARENAWATCH: ESPN+LISTEN: 92.5FM/950 AM
The Colorado Avalanche return to Ball Arena to face off against the Edmonton Oilers Sunday afternoon. Coverage begins at 1 p.m. MT on ESPN+ & HULU.
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LAST TIME OUT

Colorado looks to continue momentum after defeating St. Louis 4-1 on Friday. Bowen Byram scored twice and Mikko Rantanen recorded his team-leading 35th goal of the season. Valeri Nichushkin also found the back of the net for his 9th of the year. Justus Annunen made his first start in an Avalanche sweater this season, stopping 19 of the 20 shots that came his way.
The Oilers are coming off a 5-4 shootout loss at home to the New York Rangers. Connor McDavid scored his 100th and 101st point (0G, 2A), reaching the century mark for the third-consecutive year. Four different Edmonton players found the back of the net: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Tyson Barrie, Derek Ryan and Leon Draisaitl.

HISTORY

Colorado owns an 81-76-13 all-time mark versus Edmonton, and a 44-36-5 record at home. Colorado's 81 wins is a franchise-best for most wins against any opponent.
Since the franchise moved to Denver, the Avs hold a 69-46-11 record versus the Oilers.
Sunday's matchup will be the second of three games against Edmonton this season, with the final contest in Denver on April 11.
In the first matchup, Cale Makar scored 2:09 into overtime to defeat the Oilers, 3-2 in Edmonton. With the Avs down to an early two-goal deficit (2-0), Nathan MacKinnon and Brad Hunt answered with goals to eventually send the game to overtime.

SCOUTING THE OILERS

Edmonton's offensive production has continued to be one of the league's best this season, tied for first (Boston Bruins) in goals per game at 3.73 and holds the league-leading powerplay (31.5%).
McDavid leads Edmonton in scoring with 101 points (42G, 59A), which leads the NHL in all three statistical categories.
Draisaitl is in second with 81 points (32G, 49A).
Jack Campbell garners a 17-8-3 record between the pipes with a 3.31 goals-against average and a .888 save percentage.

LINEUP UPDATES

Avalanche
Gabriel Landeskog Lower body
Darren Helm Lower body
Pavel Francouz Lower body
Erik JohnsonLower body

DOING THE MOST

MacKinnon leads all-active Avs players with 22 points (7G, 15A) in 20 career games versus Edmonton.
Netminder Alexandar Georgiev holds a 3-1-2 mark against the Oilers in six career games.

BEHIND ENEMY LINES

McDavid has recorded 28 points (11G, 17A) in 17 games versus Colorado, which is first among current Edmonton skaters.

NUMBERS GAME

200
Mikko Rantanen recorded his 200th NHL goal in Saturday's game versus St. Louis, becoming the ninth player in franchise history and sixth since the club moved to Denver to reach the 200-goal mark. Rantanen (492 GP) is the fourth-fastest Finnish-born player in NHL history to net 200 goals, behind Teemu Selanne (322 GP), Jari Kurri (328 GP) and Tomas Sandstrom (456 GP).
13 of last 14
The Avalanche have scored the first goal in 13 of their last 14 games.
2-0
Justus Annunen made his second career NHL start against St. Louis and has won both contests (Dec. 6, 2021 at PHI).