COLORADO AVALANCHE (0-0-0) AT LOS ANGELES KINGS (0-0-0)
8:00 PM MST | CRYPTO.COM ARENA WATCH: TNT & MAX | LISTEN: 92.5FM
The Colorado Avalanche face off against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night for the first game of the 2023-24 season at Crypto.com Arena. The contest is the second game of a doubleheader on TNT, with puck drop for the Avalanche-Kings tilt set for 8 p.m. MST.
CLEAN SLATE
Colorado enters Wednesday’s matchup with a clean slate (0-0-0) as Tuesday, October 10, marked the start of the League’s 2023-24 regular season. Since relocating to Denver, the Avalanche have posted a 14-9-3-1 record on Opening Night. Last year Colorado played their season opener against Chicago at home which resulted in a 5-2 win. Alexandar Georgiev earned his first win donning the Avalanche sweater, while five Avalanche skaters registered a multi-point game (Lehkonen, 2g/1a; MacKinnon, 0g/2a; Nichushkin, 2g/0a; Rantanen, 0g/4a; Makar, 0g/2a). Last season the Avalanche finished with 109 points (51-24-7) in the regular season, but were eliminated in the opening round, falling to Seattle in seven games.
HISTORY
Colorado owns a 68-67-8-8 all-time record against Los Angeles, with a 30-37-5-5 mark on the road. Last season the Avalanche went 1-2-0 against the Kings, with Colorado winning the lone matchup at Crypto.com Arena. Wednesday’s matchup is the first of three games between the two teams this season with the others set for December 3, 2023, and January 26, 2024.
KINGS LAST SEASON OPENER
Los Angeles’s overall season-opening record is 22-22-9-2. Last year the Kings played their season opener against Las Vegas at home, ending in a 4-3 loss, with Los Angeles giving up the game-winning goal in the last minute of regulation.
AVALANCHE PRESEASON
Colorado completed the preseason with a 2-4-0 record, most recently falling 4-3 in Vegas on Oct. 5. Fredrick Olofsson notched one goal and two assists in four preseason games.
KINGS PRESEASON
Los Angeles finished their preseason 4-2-1, with their latest game being a 7-4 loss to the Golden Knights. Los Angeles gave up the lead and four unanswered goals in the third period. The Kings started the preseason competing in their first two contests in Australia, winning one and dropping one in the series with Arizona.
LINEUP UPDATES
The team practiced at Family Sports Center before leaving for Los Angeles on Tuesday. Below are the line combinations and defensive pairings the Avalanche deployed.
Forwards
Drouin – MacKinnon – Rantanen
Lehkonen – Johansen – Nichushkin
Wood – Colton – Tatar
Cogliano – Olofsson – O'Connor
Defenseman
Toews – Makar
Girard – Byram
Manson - Johnson
Goalies
Georgiev
Annunen
DOING THE MOST
Cale Makar led Colorado in points against the Kings last season with four points (1g/3a) despite only playing in two games.
Anze Kopitar led Los Angeles in points against the Avalanche last season with six assists in three games played.
BEHIND ENEMY LINES
Anze Kopitar leads all-active Kings skaters with 59 points (18g/41a) in 61 career games against the Avalanche.
Pierre-Luc Dubois has three goals and seven assists, ten career points, in 13 contests against the Avalanche. Dubois has multi-point appearances at two a points apiece, in three of those 13 games. The centerman was acquired in a trade with Winnipeg on June 27, 2023.
NUMBERS GAME
31
Mikko Rantanen leads all-active skaters in career points (10g/21a) across 25 games versus Los Angeles.
10
Nathan MacKinnon is tied with Rantanen with 10 goals in 28 career games played against Los Angeles.
QUOTE(S) THAT LEFT A MARK
“It seems like we’re a harder team to play against. We’re fast. We’re big – much bigger than last year – which I think will go a long way as the season goes on, and we still have our top guys that are obviously some of the best in the world.” - Colorado Forward Andrew Cogliano on this year’s team.
