COLORADO AVALANCHE (10-5-0) AT DALLAS STARS (11-3-1)
6:00 PM MDT | AMERICAN AIRLINES CENTER | WATCH: ALTITUDE TV | LISTEN: 92.5 FM
The Colorado Avalanche begin their season series with the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. It is the first matchup between the two teams who finished atop the Central division last season, with Colorado winning the division on the last day of the season.
Latest Results:
November 15, 2023 COL: 8 ANA: 2
November 14, 2023 DAL: 4 ARI: 3 (OT)
DISPATCHING THE DUCKS
Colorado welcomed the Anaheim Ducks to Ball Arena on Wednesday night. The Avalanche defeated the Ducks 8-2 to improve to 5-2-0 at home this season. Colorado’s eight goals are a season-high. Thirteen different players recorded points for the Avalanche (eight with multi-point games), and they had seven different goal scorers.
\AVALANCHE vs DUCKS 11. 15 .2023 RECAP \
Colorado opened the scoring in the first period with a goal from Samuel Girard, his first goal of the season. Valeri Nichushkin doubled the ledger with what would be his first of two goals of the night. Despite being out-shot 17-3 in the first period, Sam Carrick lit the lamp for the Ducks to cut into the Avs lead and conclude in the first period down just 2-1. In the second period, Fredrik Olofsson netted his second goal of the season, which would go on to be the game-winner and only goal of the frame.
The Avalanche poured it on in the third period by tallying five more goals on their way to an 8-2 final score. Ross Colton, Nichushkin, Joel Kiviranta, Andrew Cogliano and Devon Toews all lit the lamp in the final period to turn Wednesday’s contest into a rout. Kiviranta’s goal was a part of a three-point night (1g/2a), which came after signing his NHL deal just three days prior.
AVS ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Cale Makar (0g/3a) and new teammate Joel Kiviranta (1g/2a) had three points apiece. This was Kiviranta’s first career regular-season three-point game. Makar now ranks tied for ninth with the most three-assists games among defenseman age 25 or younger with 13. The Avs blueliner became the second active defenseman in the NHL with 70 multi-point games before the age of 26 (Erik Karlsson, 94). He is the first blueliner in Avalanche/Nordiques history to have 17 assists and 21 points within his first 15 games of a season.
Nathan MacKinnon (0g/2a) and Makar both extended their point streaks to five games. MacKinnon has 13 points (4g/9a) and had found the scoresheet in each of the Avalanche’s seven home games.
\HISTORY \
Colorado has a 73-56-12-11 all-time record against the Stars, with a 29-37-5-5 mark on the road. In last season’s meetings, the Avalanche went 3-1-0 against Dallas. Saturday’s outing is the first of four games scheduled between the two teams in 2023-24. They’ll play again in Dallas on January 4, with the other contests set for February 27 and April 7, both at Ball Arena.
CONTAINING THE COYOTES
The Dallas Stars defeated the Coyotes 4-3 in overtime on Tuesday night at home. Arizona scored first with Clayton Keller’s seventh of the season, but the Stars tied it late in the first with a goal from Esa Lindell and grabbed the lead in the second period when Roope Hintz netted the frame’s only goal. The Coyotes fought back in the third period when they tallied a pair of goals in a span of 2:15 to take the lead, but Dallas tied the game again late in the third period with his third goal of the season, setting the table for Matt Duchene’s game-winner for the Stars in overtime.
DANCING IN DALLAS
Mikko Rantanen paced Colorado with six points (1g/5a) against the Stars during the 2022-23 season.
Nathan MacKinnon led the Avs in goals, picking up three tallies last year in the season series.
Alexandar Georgiev started in all four games last season, stopping 103-of-113 shots and posted a .912 SV%.
SUPER-STARS
Joe Pavelski (6g/8a) and Jason Robertson (5g/9a) lead the Stars in points this season with 14 apiece.
The Stars have four of the top 10 active point leaders in the NHL against the Avalanche franchise. Joe Pavelski ranks fourth (21g/24a), Jamie Benn ranks sixth (13g/30a), Ryan Suter ranks eighth (5g/37a), and Tyler Seguin ranks ninth (19g/22a).
Jake Oettinger’s eight wins have him tied for the second most among NHL goalies this season. Oettinger is one of five netminders to rank top-10 in wins, goals-against average and save percentage this season (Adin Hill, Thatcher Demko, Cam Talbot, Jeremy Swayman).
NUMBERS GAME
35
Nathan MacKinnon has recorded 35 points (14g/21a) against the Stars in his career. The 35 points are tied for the fifth-most points he’s has registered against any franchise in his career. MacKinnon ranks seventh among active NHL skaters for most career points against the Stars franchise.
- QUOTE(S) THAT LEFT A MARK*
“We were playing overcomplicated hockey. We weren’t able to string a pass together a couple of games ago. We knew we had to be better, and we don’t want to just be a one-and-done team. We have to string some wins together here. We want to be playing North and playing hard and getting lots of pucks to the net to in order to be successful.”
- Colorado Defenseman Bowen Byram on the team’s approach
