COLORADO AVALANCHE (48-22-6) AT EDMONTON OILERS (45-24-5)
7:00 PM MDT | ROGERS PLACE | WATCH: ALTITUDE TV | LISTEN: 92.5 FM
Colorado travels to Edmonton to wrap up the second half of a back-to-back on Friday night. The Avs are 11-2-1 in their last 14 contests. Colorado’s 102 points are tied with the Vancouver Canucks for the second-most in the Western Conference. Edmonton has lost two straight contests (0-1-1) coming into tonight’s matchup. The Oilers rank second in the Pacific Division with 95 points.
Latest Results:
April 4, 2024 COL: 5 MIN: 2
April 3, 2024 DAL: 5 EDM: 0
WINNING IN THE WILD
The Avalanche defeated the Wild 5-2 on Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center. Colorado has won all three games they have played against Minnesota this season, outscoring them 10-5. Artturi Lehkonen kicked off the scoring 4:34 into the game. The Wild leveled the game a few minutes later when Vinni Lettieri lit the lamp. Jonathan Drouin restored the one-goal lead for the Avalanche on the power play to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. Colorado extended its lead when Drouin found the back of the net 43 seconds into the second period. Minnesota cut into the deficit on the power play when Declan Chisholm potted his second goal of the season. Colorado scored twice in the third period, receiving tallies from Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen (empty net) to secure the 5-2 victory.
AVS ACCOMPLISHMENTS
MacKinnon tallied 1g/2a to and has collected 130 points (82g/48a) this season, sitting three back of Nikita Kucherov - who also had a three-point Thursday - for the NHL-lead. MacKinnon’s 82 assists in 2023-24 leapfrogged Peter Stastny (1985-86) for the third-most assists registered by an Avalanche/Nordiques skater in a single season. Thursday was MacKinnon’s 24 multi-assist game of 2023-24, good for the third-highest single-season total in franchise history (Stastny, 26 in 1981-82; Forsberg, 25 in 1995-96).
Cale Makar recorded his 63rd assist of 2023-24, surpassing Steve Duchesne (1992-93) for the most assists in a campaign by a defenseman in Avalanche/Nordiques history. Makar’s 82 points (19g/63a) this season tied Steve Duchesne (1992-83) for the second-most by a defenseman in franchise history.
Rantanen tallied his 40th goal of 2023-24. He joined MacKinnon (2022-24) as the second Av to register consecutive 40-goal seasons since the club relocated to Denver. Rantanen joined Jari Kurri (1982-89) and Teemu Selanne (1995-99, 2005-07) as the only Finnish skaters in NHL history to boast consecutive 40-goal seasons. He also joined Kurri (3x) and Selanne (2x) as the third Fin ever to post a 40g/60a campaign.
Drouin recorded 2g/1a to reach 51 points this season (17g/34a). He is two points shy of tying his career-high set two other times. Thursday was Drouin’s third multi-goal game of 2023-24, tying his career-high set in 2016-17 with Tampa Bay.
Justus Annunen posted his seventh win of 2023-24 and is 6-2-0 in his last eight appearances. His 44 saves marked the most by an Avs rookie netminder since Calvin Pickard recorded 44 saves on Jan. 13, 2015 at Carolina. Annunen increased his season SV% and GAA to .931 and 2.24, respectively. Both numbers pace NHL rookie goaltenders (min. 10 GP).
HISTORY
The Avalanche/Nordiques own a 83-76-8-6 all-time record against the Oilers. Colorado is 8-3-1 in its last 12 meetings with Edmonton. In their past nine trips to Rogers Place the Avs have earned a 5-3-1 mark. The Avalanche defeated the Oilers in the only prior matchup this season 3-2 in overtime on March 16 at Rogers Place. Artturi Lehkonen registered the overtime winner in the last meeting, Including playoffs, Lehkonen has lit the lamp in overtime twice in Edmonton in his career. Theo Fleury, Benoit Hogue and Ken Linseman are the only other players in NHL history to record and overtime goal against the Oilers in both the regular season and postseason.
SHUTOUT BY THE STARS
Edmonton was defeated by Dallas 5-0 on Wednesday night at American Airlines Center. Radek Faska tallied the only goal of the first period 2:08 into the period. The Stars tallied four straight in the middle frame, getting contributions from Tyler Seguin (power play), Wyatt Johnston, Jamie Benn and Sam Steel. Jake Oettinger stopped all 35 shots he faced en route to his third shutout of the season.
STATS TO KNOW
Lehkonen and Sean Walker paced the Avalanche with a goal and an assist each in the first meeting with the Oilers this season.
MacKinnon has averaged over a point per game against the Oilers in his career. He has posted 26 points (8g/18a) in 23 games against Edmonton.
Alexandar Georgiev is 3-0-1 against Edmonton as a member of the Avalanche. He has recorded a .924 SV% and a 2.61 GAA in those four outings.
OUTSTANDING OILERS
Since entering the league during the 2015-16 season, Connor McDavid has recorded the most points of any skater in the NHL with 976 (332g/644a).
Leon Draisaitl ranks first among all German born players in NHL history in goals (345), assists (498) and points (843).
Evan Bouchard has tallied the fourth-most points of any defenseman this season with 76 (16g/60a).
NUMBERS GAME
95
Since the start of last season, Rantanen has tallied the third-most goals of any player in the NHL, finding the back of the net 95 times.
24:54
Cale Makar averages the seventh-most time on ice of any skater in the NHL. He averages 24:54 TOI per game.
36
Jonathan Drouin has recorded 34 assists this campaign, he is just two away from setting a career-high (2018-19 – 35 assists with Montreal).
QUOTE(S) THAT LEFT A MARK
“It’s the most comfortable I felt in the past couple of weeks, especially playing with those two guys. I’m not nervous, I’m not overwhelmed by it. I am excited to play with those guys. I think I can play with them. We work a lot of stuff in practice and off the ice so I think it pays dividends in the matches.”
- Colorado LW Jonathan Drouin on chemistry with his linemates
