CALGARY FLAMES (8-9-3) AT COLORADO AVALANCHE (13-6-0)
8:00 PM MDT | BALL ARENA | WATCH: ALTITUDE TV | LISTEN: 92.5 FM
The Colorado Avalanche start their season series with the Calgary Flames on Saturday night. This will be the third game in four days for the Avalanche and the last game of a four-game road trip for the Flames.
Latest Results:
November 24, 2023 COL: 3 MIN: 2
November 24, 2023 CGY: 7 DAL: 4
CONQUERING THE WILD
Colorado played an in-division contest Friday night in Minnesota, defeating the Wild 3-2. The Avs are now 4-2-0 this season with matchups in-division. They have outscored their Central division opponents 22-18 in those games.
AVALANCHE vs WILD 11.24.2023 RECAP
Ross Colton opened the scoring for the Avs with the lone goal in the first period, his seventh of the season. Valeri Nichushkin extended the lead for Colorado in the middle frame with a power-play goal. Minnesota leveled the game in the second period with goals from Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek (power play). Kurtis MacDermid scored the game-winning goal, his first tally of the season, at 4:56 into the third to seal the game for the Avalanche.
AVS ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Colorado has scored at least one power-play goal in six-consecutive games. That extends both the Avs' longest such streak of the season as well as the longest current run in the NHL.
Valeri Nichushkin extended his career-best, goal-scoring streak to six games. The longest goal streak by any skater in the NHL this campaign.
Ross Colton has lit the lamp in four of his last six games. The Avalanche are 7-0-0 when he has scored.
Nathan MacKinnon registered an assist, his 50th career point against Minnesota. That is now his highest point total against any franchise.
The Avalanche enter tonight still leading the NHL with eight comeback victories.
HISTORY
Colorado owns a 72-76-20-5 all-time record against Calgary, with a 39-33-11-4 mark at home. Last season, the Avalanche went 2-1-0 against the Flames, outscoring them 11-7. Saturday’s outing is the first of three games scheduled between the two teams in 2023-24. They’ll play again in Denver on December 11, with the final contest set for March 12 at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
SCORCHING THE STARS
The Calgary Flames defeated the Dallas Stars 7-4 on Friday night at the American Airlines Center. Calgary trailed the Dallas Stars 2-1 at the end of the first period, with their lone goal coming from A.J. Greer. The Flames trailed again at the end of the middle stanza by a score of 4-3 despite goals from Yegor Sharangovich and Adam Ruzicka. In the third, Calgary erupted with four straight goals from Blake Coleman, Elias Lindholm, Mikael Backlund, and Nazem Kadri to come back and secure the victory. Jacob Markstrom stopped 24-of-28 shots
STATS TO KNOW
Mikko Rantanen (3g/2a) and Nathan MacKinnon (2g/3a) paced Colorado with five points apiece over the three games against the Flames during the 2022-23 season.
Rantanen led the Avs in goals, picking up three tallies last year in the season series.
Alexandar Georgiev started in both games the Avs won against the Flames last season, stopping 62-of-64 shots and posted a .969 SV%. Calgary was one of eight teams Georgiev went undefeated against last season.
FLAMES HEATING UP
Mikael Backlund has recorded 27 points against the Avalanche in his career. It is the third-most points Backlund has scored against any franchise in his career.
Blake Coleman paces the Flames this season with six goals. He scored one of Calgary's seven goals last night.
Yegor Sharangovich has recorded four points (2g/2a) in his last two games.
The Flames are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games after beginning the season 2-7-1.
NUMBERS GAME
13.7
Nathan MacKinnon has recorded his fourth-highest career shooting percentage against the Flames.
72
Colorado has tallied 72 goals this campaign. That's tied with the Kings for the third-most of any team in the NHL.
10
Valeri Nichushkin has recorded 10 points (7g/3a) in his last six games.
QUOTE(S) THAT LEFT A MARK
“We are trying to play as five men out there. The defense is jumping into the play and trying to get shots from the point, we are able to crash the net on those shots and have success. We also have played good in the defensive zone and limited our turnovers which will lead to goals for us.”
- Colorado Center Ross Colton on the third lines success
