COLORADO AVALANCHE (15-6-2) AT LOS ANGELES KINGS (13-4-3)
6:00 PM MDT | CRYPTO.COM ARENA | WATCH: Altitude TV | LISTEN: 92.5 FM
The Colorado Avalanche take on the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena for the second of three matchups between the two teams during the regular season. Colorado will be completing a back-to-back set of games, their second of the campaign. The Avalanche-Kings tilt can be watched on Altitude TV, with puck drop scheduled for 6:00 p.m. MDT.
Latest Results:
December 2, 2023 | ANA: 4, COL: 3 (OT)
November 29, 2023 | WSH: 2, LAK: 1
HOTEL CALIFORNIA
Over the last four-plus seasons (since 2019-20), the Avalanche are 22-5-1 when the team hits the ice in the Golden State. The Avalanche are 8-2-0 against the Kings, 7-2-0 in San Jose and 7-1-1 in Anaheim.
HISTORY
Colorado owns a 69-67-8-8 all-time record against Los Angeles, with a 31-37-5-5 mark on the road. This season the Avalanche are 1-0-0 against the Kings.
To open the regular season on October 11, the Avalanche conquered the Kings 5-2 in Los Angeles. Three Avalanche players had a multi-point appearance in the first contest between the two teams (Mikko Rantanen, 2g/2a; Nathan MacKinnon, 1g/2a; Cale Makar, 1g/1a). Netminder Alexandar Georgiev earned his first win of the campaign by saving 34 of the 36 shots he faced in net for a save percentage of .944.
Rantanen paces active Avalanche skaters against the Kings with 35 career points (12g/23a) in 26 games. When on the road, the winger has collected 16 of those points (7g/9a). Four out of his 12 goals against Los Angeles have been scored on the power play, while 10 out of his 23 assists have been power-play helpers. The forward has netted three game-winning goals against the Kings, two of which occurred in LA.
STORMING THE CASTLE
Anze Kopitar leads all-active Kings skaters with 60 points (18g/42a) in 62 career games against the Avalanche. Seven out of his 18 total goals against Colorado have been scored on the power play, while 18 of his 42 assists have been power-play helpers.
Pierre-Luc Dubois has tallied 10 career points (3g/7a) in 14 contests versus Colorado. Dubois has recorded three multi-point appearances against the Avs. Half (1g/4a) of his points were accumulated in Los Angeles.
Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala pace all Kings skaters with 20 points on the campaign. Kempe has tallied 8g/12a, while Fiala notched 6g/14a, both in 20 games played.
Netminder Cam Talabot has a goals-against average of 2.02 which ranks third in the league and a save percentage of .928 which is fifth.
NUMBERS GAME
50
Bowen Byram cleared 50 career points (20g/31a) with two goals against Anaheim on Dec 3, becoming the fifth blueliner in Avalanche history to reach 50 points with the team before turning 23 years old. He registered his third two-goal game (11/3/21 and 2/18/23), scoring twice in a period for the first time in his career.
1,130
Jack Johnson skated in his 1,130th career game securing the 11th position among American-born defensemen for the most games played.
QUOTE(S) THAT LEFT A MARK
“We had a good first 20 we thought. We did a lot of really good things that we talked about and then we just kind of faded from there. We didn’t keep the pressure on and started to sit back a little bit and let them come at us.”
- Colorado Defenseman Devon Toews on loss to Anaheim Dec 3
