Kings Notes:
Only Colorado's Cale Makar (26:42) averages more time-on-ice per game among all skaters than Drew Doughty (26:21).
Kings captain Anze Kopitar's 53 points versus Colorado (18-35=53) is most all-time by a Kings player against the Avalanche and is tied with Chicago's Jonathan Toews (24-29=53) for third-most among active skaters.
Quinton Byfield skates into Ball Arena riding a career-long four-game assist streak (0-4=4). Should he tally an assist tonight, Byfield would extend his streak into a fifth game, the longest assist streak this season by any skater 20 years of age or younger. He'd also become the sixth different player 20 years old or younger to hold a point streak of at least five games this campaign. The last Kings skater 20 years of age or younger to establish a point streak of at least five games was Drew Doughty (20 y/o, 1-6=7, Feb. 8 to March 4, 2010) while last with a five-game assist streak was Darryl Sydor (20 y/o, 0-5=5, Feb. 27 to March 9, 1993).
Matt Roy's nine goals are most among Kings defensemen with Sean Durzi the next closest blueliner with seven. Of Roy's nine goals, seven have come on the road. Only Nashville's Roman Josi (9), Buffalo's Rasmus Dahlin (8) and Winnipeg's Neal Pionk (8) have more road goals among defensemen this season than Roy.
Forward Adrian Kempe tallied his 30th goal of the season on Monday to earn his second consecutive 30-goal season (35G in 78 GP in 2021-22). He is the 15th different skater in franchise history to record consecutive 30-goal seasons and the first since Ziggy Palffy (3x, 2000-03). Of his 30 goals, nine have come on the power-play. No Kings skater has score 10 power-play goals in a single season since Jeff Carter in the 2016-17 campaign.
The Kings power play ranks 5th in the NHL (24.7%).
The Kings penalty kill ranks 23rd in the NHL (76.0%).
The Kings are 6th in faceoff win percentage (52.6%).
Avalanche Notes:
The Avalanche will be without the following players for Thursday's game: Pavel Francouz (Lower body), Darren Helm (Lower body), Erik Johnson (Lower body), Gabriel Landeskog (Lower body), Josh Manson (Lower body).
The Avalanche outshot the Sharks by 30 shots (43-13) in Tuesday's 6-0 win over San Jose, which is the largest shot margin this season for Colorado.
The Avalanche power play ranks 9th in the NHL (22.8%).
The Avalanche penalty kill ranks 18th in the NHL (78.8%).
The Avalanche are 27th in faceoff win percentage (46.5%).
Who to Watch:
The recently extended Mikey Anderson, who scored the game-winning goal in Monday's 4-2 win over the Washington Capitals. Anderson has notched 15 points (3-12=15) in 65 games this season and leads the Kings with a plus-15 plus/minus.
Mikko Rantanen, who leads all-active Avalanche skaters with 30 points (10G, 20A) in 23 games against the Kings franchise. Rantanen leads the Avs in goals (42) and ranks second on the team in points (73).
