Colorado Avalanche (18-15-0) @ San Jose Sharks (11-18-5)
8:30 p.m. MT | SAP Center at San Jose | Watch: Altitude, Altitude+ | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (950 AM)
After a meeting with the Vancouver Canucks in Canada, the Avalanche head to California for a Western Conference duel with the San Jose Sharks. This is the second of three meetings this season, as the Avalanche won 4-1 in San Jose on October 20, and they’ll play in Denver on March 6.
A Loss Away From Home
The Avalanche lost 3-1 to the Canucks at Rogers Arena on Monday. Valeri Nichushkin scored his eighth goal of the season and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 22 of the 24 shots he faced. Vancouver’s Kiefer Sherwood opened the scoring at 16:14 of the first and then scored his second goal while short-handed at 16:04 of the middle frame. He completed his hat trick with an empty-net tally at 17:25 of the third to give the Canucks a 3-0 lead. Ending Vancouver’s shutout bid, Nichushkin scored at 19:14 with a shot from the slot.
Frequenting the Leaderboards
Nate the Great
Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL in points (50) and assists (37). He’s posted nine points (4g/5a) in his last five games, becoming the first player to reach 50 points this season.
All Hail Cale
Among NHL defensemen, Cale Makar is first in points (38) and assists (29). Additionally, he’s tied for second in goals (9) among blueliners and tied for eighth in the NHL in assists.
The Moose is Loose
Mikko Rantanen is tied for third in the NHL in points (47), tied for seventh in goals (18), and tied for eighth in assists (29).
History
The Avalanche have a 59-38-12 regular-season record against the Sharks and have won their last 10 meetings against them. In the playoffs, they are 15-17 against San Jose.
Winless Against Winnipeg
The Sharks lost 4-3 to the Winnipeg Jets at the SAP Center at San Jose on Tuesday. Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor scored the lone first-period goal with a tally at 12:18. San Jose answered when Tyler Toffoli scored at 1:52 of the second period. The teams then exchanged second-period power-play goals by Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele at 7:28 and San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini at 17:11. The Sharks took a 3-2 lead in the third period when Fabian Zetterlund scored at 4:44, but the Jets tied the game after a power-play goal from Connor at 11:56 and took the lead when Adam Lowry scored at 18:47.
Big-Time Scorers in the Bay Area
MacKinnon has posted 48 points (18g/30a) in 35 games against the Sharks, including 17 points (6g/11a) in his last six games against them.
In 14 games against the Sharks, Makar has recorded 21 points (6g/15a), including a goal and two assists in in their meeting earlier this season.
Rantanen has registered 30 points (16g/14a) in 25 games against San Jose, including 10 points (6g/4a) in his last seven games against them.
San Jose’s Scorers
Celebrini is tied for second on the team in goals (11) and tied for fifth in points (22).
Mikael Granlund leads the Sharks in points (32) and assists (21) while being tied for second in goals (11).
Toffoli leads the team in goals (13) and is tied for fifth in points (22).
A Numbers Game
85.7
The Avalanche’s 85.7% penalty kill in the month of December is tied for ninth-best mark in the NHL.
3.38
In December, the Avalanche are scoring 3.38 goals per game, which is the seventh most in the NHL in that span.
40
MacKinnon is three assists away from his eighth-straight season of 40 assists, which would tie Joe Sakic for the second-most consecutive seasons with 40 or more assists in franchise history. Peter Stastny holds the franchise record with nine-straight such seasons.
Quote That Left a Mark
“Absolutely. Every minute of it. I started playing when I was two, so [I've had] about 24 years of dreaming of this moment. And [I'm] just so happy that my family and friends got to be here tonight.”
-- Tye Felhaber after his NHL debut on whether playing 258 games between the AHL and ECHL was worth it
