WINNIPEG JETS (14-8-2) AT COLORADO AVALANCHE (16-7-2)
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The Colorado Avalanche start their season series with the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night. Colorado sits atop the Central division, while Winnipeg ranks third trailing Colorado by just four points. It’s the second game out of a five-game home stand for the Avs and the first of a four-game road trip for the Jets.
Latest Results:
December 5, 2023 COL: 3 ANA: 2
December 4, 2023 WPG: 2 CAR: 1
DENYING THE DUCKS
Colorado opened up a five-game homestand Tuesday night with a win over the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 to close out the season series. The Avalanche extended their season-high, home-winning streak to five games. The Avs won the season series against the Ducks winning both games at home and dropping the lone road game in a shootout. They outscored the Ducks 14-7 in the three games.
AVALANCHE vs DUCKS 12.5.2023 RECAP
Kurtis MacDermid opened the scoring in the first period, his second tally of the season. Later on, Nathan MacKinnon lit the lamp for the ninth time this season in the middle frame. The Avalanche extended their lead to 3-0 in the third period when Logan O’Connor found the back of the net. The Ducks made a late surge in regulation, getting goals from Sam Carrick and Leo Carlsson but Colorado held on as Alexandar Georgiev finished the night stopping stopped 31-of-33 shots en route to his league-leading 14th victory.
AVS ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Nathan MacKinnon recorded three points (1g/2a) including his 500th career assist on Logan O’Connor’s goal. He is the fourth player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to collect 500 assists and the first player from the 2013 NHL Draft to do so.
MacKinnon became the fifth-fastest active NHL player to hit the 500-career assist milestone in his 734th game (Connor McDavid - 527 games, Sidney Crosby - 554 games, Nicklas Backstrom - 691 games, Evgeni Malkin- 694 games).
Mackinnon extended his point streak to nine games, trailing only Nikita Kucherov and Mats Zuccarello (10) as the third longest active run.
The centerman’s home point streak was extended to 11 contests and is the third longest season-opening home point streak in franchise history. Only Mats Sundin (17) in 1992-93 and Peter Stastny (17) in 1980-81 had longer.
Jonathan Drouin has recorded five points (2g/3a) in the past four home contests.
HISTORY
The Avalanche/Nordiques own a 28-21-1-6 all-time record against the Jets/Thrashers, with a 17-7-0-4 mark at home. Since the Jets relocated to Winnipeg, from Atlanta the Avalanche are 14-4-2 at home against Winnipeg. In last season’s meetings, the Avalanche went 2-1-1 against the Jets.
SOARING ABOVE THE HURRICANES
The Winnipeg Jets defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 on Monday night at home. Winnipeg kicked off the scoring with Kyle Connor’s first goal in seven games. Nikolaj Ehlers grew the lead to 2-0 for the Jets when he lit the lamp in the second period, but with under a minute to go in the middle frame Martin Necas recorded the lone tally for the Hurricanes, his seventh of the campaign. Laurent Brossoit made a season-high 42 saves to earn his third win of the season.
STATS TO KNOW
Mikko Rantanen paced Colorado with six points (4g/2a) against the Jets during the 2022-23 season. Rantanen’s four goals led the Avs in the season series.
Bowen Byram ranked first between both teams in the season series in plus/minus rating at +5.
Nathan MacKinnon registered one of his career-best five-point games against the Jets on Jan. 6,2022 (1g/4a).
TOP GUN JETS
Mark Scheifele has recorded 36 points (12g/24a) in his career against the Avalanche. It’s the third-most points Scheifele has scored against any franchise in his career.
Josh Morrissey ranks ninth among blueliners for the most points in the NHL this campaign with 20 (4g/16a). Since the 2022-23 season Morrissey has recorded the fourth most points amongst defenseman with 96 (20g/76a).
Kyle Connor is tied for the sixth most goals in the NHL with 15.
NUMBERS GAME
1
The Avalanche are the only team in the NHL with three players to rank in the top 10 of league scoring. Nathan MacKinnon (9g/25a) and Cale Makar (7g/27a) are tied for the sixth most points (34) and Mikko Rantanen ranks tenth with 31 points (12g/19a).
89
Colorado has scored the third-most goals of any team this campaign with 89 (excluding shootout-deciding goals.
13
Ryan Johansen has registered thirteen goals in his career against the Jets in his career. The thirteen goals are the most Johansen has recorded against any franchise.
QUOTE(S) THAT LEFT A MARK
“Nate (MacKinnon) plays a bit of a different game with his speed, it feels like everything is in fast forward a little bit. I feel like my skating can help with that and keep up with him and help him make plays. At the end of the day my job is to get them the puck, whether that’s on the forecheck or on breakouts making sure to put the puck in their hands.”
- Colorado Right Wing Logan O’Connor on his linemates Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin
