ARIZONA COYOTES (17-13-2) AT COLORADO AVALANCHE (20-11-2)
7:00 PM MDT | BALL ARENA | WATCH: ALTITUDE 2 | LISTEN: 92.5 FM
The Colorado Avalanche take on the Arizona Coyotes at Ball Arena on Saturday night. The Avalanche are 4-2-0 in the past six contests, while the Coyotes are riding a four-game winning streak coming into tonight’s game. The Avalanche lead the Coyotes by six points in the division standings.
Latest Results: December 21, 2023 COL: 6 OTT: 4
December 21, 2023 ARI: 5 SJS: 2
OVERTAKING OTTAWA
The Colorado Avalanche defeated the Ottawa Senators 6-4 on Thursday Night at Ball Arena. Colorado is now 6-0-1 in their past seven matchups against the Sens, outscoring them 37-20. The Avs are 3-1-0 this campaign against Atlantic Division competition.
AVALANCHE vs SENATORS 12.23.2023 RECAP
Nathan MacKinnon found the back of the net on the power play, to open the scoring. Josh Norris leveled the game at one, on the man advantage, his 11th tally of the season. Ridly Greig lit the lamp for the Sens to take a 2-1 lead before MacKinnon once again found the back of the net to tie the game at two at the end of the first period. Ottawa took a 4-2 lead in the middle frame, getting tallies from Jacob Bernard-Docker and Drake Batherson. Mikko Rantanen brought the game within one right before the second intermission, when he found the top corner of the net on a power play. MacKinnon snapped a shot past Joonas Korpisalo’s blocker on the power play to complete his hat trick. Shortly after, Rantanen tallied his second goal of the game also on the power play when he tipped a point shot into the back of the net. MacKinnon concluded the scoring, recording an empty-net tally to secure the victory for the Avs. The Avalanche went 4-of-5 on the power play and Alexandar Georgiev made a season-high 41 stops to seal the win.
AVS ACCOMPLISHMENTS
MacKinnon extended his point streak to 17 games, setting a new career-high. It is tied for the longest streak in the NHL this season (William Nylander, Oct. 11-Nov. 19).
The centerman’s second goal of Thursdays game was his 300th career goal. He became the fifth player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to accomplish that feat (Joe Sakic-625, Michel Goulet-456, Peter Stastny-380 and Milan Hejduk -375 are the other four players). MacKinnon’s four-goal game was the first in Avalanche history since the team relocated to Denver.
Cale Makar made his return to the lineup, collecting two assists. Makar is the first defenseman since Paul Coffey in 1991-92 to reach 31-plus assists within his first 28 games of a season.
Jonathan Drouin registered an assist and has tied the longest point streak of his career at five games.
HISTORY
The Avalanche/Nordiques own a 75-53-12-9 all-time record against the Coyotes, with a 40-24-5-5 mark at home. Colorado is 11-3-3 in their past 17 matchups with Arizona. The Yotes took the first game of the season series 4-3 in overtime at Mullett Arena on November 30.
SINKING THE SHARKS
The Arizona Coyotes won 5-2 against the San Jose Sharks Thursday night at the SAP Center. Michael Kesselring put a shot just above Mackenzie Blackwood’s glove to open the scoring for Arizona. Anthony Duclair quickly leveled the game on a breakaway in the middle frame. Arizona responded when Clayton Keller had a breakaway of his own and slid the puck through Blackwood’s five-hole. Alex Kerfoot doubled the lead going into the second intermission. Filip Zadina tallied the final goal for the Sharks, his fourth of the season. Nick Schmaltz hammered home a goal on the power play off of a beautiful passing play to give the Coyotes a 4-2 lead. Arizona tallied the last goal of the night when Lawson Crouse found the back of the net for the 14th tie this campaign. Karel Vejmelka stopped 29 shots en route to his fifth win of the season.
STATS TO KNOW
Makar (1g/1a) and Rantanen (0g/2a) paced the Avalanche with two points apiece in the first matchup against Arizona this season. The blueliner led both teams in TOI with 28:15 played.
The Avs went 2-of-3 on the power play in the first contest against the Yotes on November 30, 2023, with tallies from Makar and MacKinnon.
Mikko Rantanen has tallied 15 goals against the Coyotes in his career. The 15 goals are tied for the most he has recorded against any franchise (Blues, Ducks and the Sharks are the other teams).
CLUTCH COYOTES
Lawson Crouse and Michael Carcone pace Arizona in goals with 14 apiece. The 14 tallies are a already a career-high for Carcone.
Clayton Keller ranks first on the Coyotes in points this season with 30 (12g/18a).
Connor Ingram is tied for the most shutouts in the NHL with three (Thatcher Demko and Tristan Jarry).
NUMBERS GAME
17
Makar has recorded 17 points (4g/13a) against the Coyotes in his career. The 17 points are tied for the fourth-most points he has registered against any franchise (Predators and Wild).
1
The Avalanche are the only team in the NHL to have two skaters in the top 10 for the most goals this season (MacKinnon -18 and Rantanen -17).
9
Colorado ranks in the top nine spots for both special teams (power play – ninth and penalty kill – sixth place).
QUOTE(S) THAT LEFT A MARK
“I thought our first and third periods were good. We had some mistakes in the second period and that happens, those are the things that we have been talking about. We try to limit those and I feel like the wins will be more comfortable if we limit odd-man rushes against.”
- Colorado LW Mikko Rantanen on team effort
