SEATTLE KRAKEN (4-6-3) AT COLORADO AVALANCHE (8-3-0)
7:00 PM MDT | BALL ARENA | WATCH: ALTITUDE TV | LISTEN: 92.5 FM
The Colorado Avalanche welcome the Seattle Kraken to Ball Arena on Thursday night. It is the second matchup this season between the two teams, with Colorado getting the best of Seattle in the first contest 4-1 on October 17.
Latest Results:
November 7, 2023 COL: 6, NJD: 3
November 7, 2023 ARI: 4, SEA: 3 (SO)
DEFENDING AGAINST THE DEVILS
Colorado played on Tuesday night to open a three-game homestand. The Avalanche defeated the New Jersey Devils 6-3 to improve to 4-0-0 at home this season. Colorado’s 4-0-0 home record is its best through four games of a season since 2019-20 (also 4-0-0) and have outscoring opponents 20-8 at Ball Arena in those four games. A win on Thursday would mark just the third time since relocating to Denver that the Avalanche won each of their first five home games.
The Avalanche and Hurricanes (4-0-0) are the only teams to not lose in any fashion at home in the NHL.
AVALANCHE vs DEVILS 11.7.2023 RECAP
New Jersey opened the scoring in the first period with a goal from Tyler Toffoli, his team leading eighth goal of the season. Mikko Rantanen responded with a power-play tally, his seventh goal of the campaign. Ross Colton gave the Avalanche the lead in the second period, netting his third of the season. Timo Meier leveled the game at two, notching a power-play tally in the middle frame. Miles Wood regained the lead for the Avs by tallying the first shorthanded goal of his career. Dougie Hamilton registered the Devils last goal of the game on the power-play, to end the scoring in the second period. By the time the third period started, the Avalanche took off. Ryan Johansen kicked off the scoring spree, which would be the game-winner and his fifth tally of the season. Nathan MacKinnon and Rantanen polished the Avalanche’s lead in the third period with a goal apiece.
Cale Makar (0g/3a) recorded his fifth multi-point game of the season, tying Quinn Hughes and Victor Hedman for the most among defenseman while also climbing the Avalanche/Nordiques franchise list for career points (260). He passed Adam Foote (259) for the third-most points by a defenseman in franchise history, trailing only Tyson Barrie (307) and John-Michael Liles (275).
Mikko Rantanen registered his 81st career power-play goal, passing Anton Stastny (80) for sole possession of sixth place on the Avalanche/Nordiques all-time list. Rantanen is currently ranked tenth for most points in the NHL with 17 (8g/9a).
HISTORY
Colorado has a 4-2-1 all-time record against the Kraken, with a 1-1-1 mark at home. In last season’s meetings, the Avalanche went 1-1-1 against Seattle in the regular season with Colorado winning the lone away game 2-1 in a shootout. The Avs dropped both home games at Ball Arena, losing 3-2 on October 21, 2022 and again 3-2 in overtime on March 5, 2023. The two teams met earlier this season on October 17 at Climate Pledge Arena, with Colorado winning by a score of 4-1. It was the last contest of a three-game road trip for the Avs, in which they went 3-0-0 and outscored their opponents 11-4. Logan O’Connor scored a shorthanded, game-winning goal and Alexandar Georgiev stopped 27-of-28 shots. Thursday’s outing is the second of three games scheduled between the two teams this season. They’ll conclude the season series November 13 at Climate Pledge Arena.
DOWN IN THE DESERT
The Seattle Kraken were defeated by the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 in shootout on Tuesday night at Mullett Arena. Eeli Tolvanen notched his third goal of the season to kick off the scoring in the first period. Matias Maccelli evened the scoring later on in the frame with his second of the campaign. Barrett Hayton picked up his first of 2023-24 to give the Coyotes the lead in the second period. The Kraken quickly equalized when Justin Schultz registered his second of the season. Jaden Schwartz and Clayton Keller each notched goals in the third period knotting the game at three. Nick Bjugstad scored the only goal in the shootout to give the Coyotes the extra point.
SHREDDING SEATTLE
Valeri Nichushkin paced Colorado with three points (0g/3a) against the Kraken during the 2022-23 regular season. Bowen Byram, and Nathan MacKinnon led the Avs in goals each picking up a tally in the season series.
KNOWING THE KRAKEN
Jared McCann and Jaden Schwartz lead the Kraken in goals with six apiece.
Schwartz also paces the Kraken with 11 points this season.
The Kraken’s power-play ranks eighth in the NHL at 26.3%.
NUMBERS GAME
27
The Avalanche and Kraken complete their season series in only a 27-day span. The window also includes the clubs facing off twice in five days.
1.27
Cale Makar ranks third among all blueliners in the NHL for points per game with 14 points in 11 games (min. five games).
QUOTE(S) THAT LEFT A MARK
“I think Woody (Miles Wood) and Tunes (Tomas Tatar) were both really excited for the opportunity. Woody really showed up tonight, in terms of his skating you can tell when he’s on the go he’s able to hold onto the puck and skate with it as well. I felt like he had an awesome game tonight and it translated with his goal.”
- Colorado Defenseman Cale Makar on Miles Wood playing against his former team
