Kings Notes:
Forward Phillip Danault has four goals over his last three games against the Avalanche, including a multi-goal effort (2-0=2) when these two teams last met on March 9 in Denver.
No Pacific Division team has scored more goals against the Central Division this season than the Kings (75).
Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov notched his first career shorthanded goals for his fifth tally as an LA King on Thursday night in Vegas, becoming the second Kings blueliner to tally a shorthanded goal this season (Matt Roy, Jan. 7, 2023 at VGK). It marks the sixth time in team history multiple Kings defensemen have scored a shorthanded goal in a single season and the first since 1998-99.
Following his power-play goal Thursday night, Anze Kopitar moved one point shy of securing his eighth 70-point season (27-42=69). Only Marcel Dionne (12) and Luc Robitaille (11) have recorded more 70-point seasons in Kings history than Kopitar's current seven. Kopitar's goal on Thursday marked his 19th point on the man advantage this season and 399th of his career. With one more power-play point, Kopitar can become the third skater in team history to notch 400 power-play points.
The Kings power play ranks 3rd in the NHL (25.2%).
The Kings penalty kill ranks 24th in the NHL (75.3%).
The Kings are 5th in faceoff win percentage (53.1%).
Avalanche Notes:
The Avalanche currently hold the top seed in the Central Division, tied with the Dallas Stars (100 pts) with one game in hand.
Alexandar Georgiev ranks second in the NHL in wins with 37, trailing only the Bruins Linus Ullmark (38). Georgiev holds a .919 SV% and a 2.53 GAA.
The Avalanche power play ranks 5th in the NHL (24.9%).
The Avalanche penalty kill ranks 16th in the NHL (79.1%).
The Avalanche are 28th in faceoff win percentage (46.6%).
Who to Watch:
Defenseman Drew Doughty, who leads all King skaters with 25 power-play points on the season, which is also tied for 11th-most in the league among blueliners. This season is the second of Doughty's career with 25-power-play points (31 PPP in 2009-10). The last Kings skater to record as many power-play points in a single season was Anze Kopitar in 2017-18 (27) while the last team defenseman to do so was Jack Johnson in 2010-11 (28). Overall, there have been only six different defensemen with multiple 25+ power-play point seasons in team history.
Mikko Rantanen, who has notched 10 points (4-6=10) and plus-10 raring in the last three games. Rantanen sits two points shy of the century mark with 98 points (52-46=98) in 77 games this season. Rantanen recorded goals 50, 51 and 52 on Thursday against the San Jose Sharks, reaching the 50-goal mark for the first time in his career.
