"They are obviously on the top of the mountain," said Charlie McAvoy. "They are an exceptional team with a lot of really special players. It's always fun to play against those teams to see where you're at, challenge yourself, and have that competition aspect of playing against some of the best players in the league."
Colorado certainly has plenty of those, as they boast two-time Hart Trophy runner-up Nathan MacKinnon and reigning Norris Trophy and Conn Smythe winner, Cale Makar, among a bevy of other top-end talent, including Mikko Rantanen, Artturi Lehkonen, and Devon Toews.
"They are still a very deep team, have a ton of talent," said Brad Marchand. "MacKinnon is obviously one of the top two players in the world and Makar is probably the best defenseman. So, guys like that can take over a game at any moment. And again, they are very deep and play very fast, and they are a good team, so it's going to be a good game."
The Avalanche, in the midst of a three-game East Coast road trip, are coming off a 6-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. Despite being decimated by injuries early on - captain Gabriel Landeskog, defensemen Bo Byram and Sam Girard, and forwards Evan Rodrigues and Valeri Nichuskin have been sidelined - Colorado is 13-7-1 with 27 points, which places them in the third place in the Central Division, two points back of Winnipeg and one point ahead of Nashville.
"Making them try to defend in their end, especially during the start," Charlie Coyle said of how to top the Avalanche. "We just get the puck down there, we work, we stay tight, we have a good forecheck…and then we play and we hang on to it and things will open up that way when we work. That's all it is.
"They're a good team. They defend very well. Everyone knows their offense, but they defend very well. They come back hard…it will be a joint effort for that as well, all over the ice. But I think bringing the game that we know how to play and executing, and we'll see where that gets us."
