Cale Makar played two seasons (2017-2019) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst before turning pro last spring. J.T. Compher's sister Jesse plays on the Boston University women's hockey team… Avs assistant general manager Craig Billington played two seasons (1994-1996) for the Bruins as a goaltender before being acquired by Colorado in 1996… Bruins assistant coach Joe Sacco was Colorado's head coach from 2009-2013. Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo was born in Colorado Springs and played for the Colorado Thunderbirds program.
HISTORY
The Avalanche franchise owns a 31-31-10 all-time record against the Bruins as the visiting team and a 60-72-16 mark overall. Since moving to Denver in 1995, the Avs have fared much better, going 24-10-2 against the B's and sporting a 12-2-2 record in Boston. Colorado is 2-0-1 against the Bruins since the 2018-19 campaign and won the first matchup this season with a 4-2 win on Oct. 10, the third game of the year for the Avs.
ROSTER REPORT
The Avalanche squad is considered relatively healthy with only three injuries.
INJURY REPORT
Darren Helm is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Jacob MacDonald remains out with an upper-body injury he sustained on Dec. 12. Stefan Matteau is expected to be out for a few more weeks while he rehabs a lower-body injury from October 2021.
SCOUTING THE BRUINS
The Bruins are sitting about mid-tier of the Atlantic Division this season with 50 points so far, in fourth place. Boston is currently starting a three-game road trip, beginning with Colorado. The squad just finished up a seven-game homestand with a 5-1-0 record in two weeks.
(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: Brad Marchand
Leading Boston in points so far this season is left-winger, Brad Marchand with 45 points ( 20 goals, 25 assists) in 34 games played. Marchand is also the alternate captain. The Bruins selected Marchand in the third round, 71st overall, of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.
NUMBERS GAME
2
Pavel Francouz stopped all 24 shots he faced to record his second straight shutout and extend his shutout streak to 127:51, a career-best. He is the first Avalanche goaltender to post back-to-back shutouts since Patrick Roy from Jan. 23-25, 2003.
19
MacKinnon (6g/13a) and Rantanen (8g/11a) have each recorded 19 points in the month of January, tied for second in scoring in the NHL this month (Jonathan Huberdeau, 20).
6
Nazem Kadri scored his sixth power-play goal of the season, ranked second on the team. Kadri's tally was his third game-winning goal of the campaign, tied for second (Gabriel Landeskog, Alex Newhook) on the club. Kadri ranks fifth in the league with 52 points.
NOTEBOOK
During its home winning streak, Colorado has outscored opponents 76-37 and is 18-for-65 (27.7%) on the power play. The Avs also extended their home point streak to 18 games, setting a new franchise record. The club previously had home point streaks of 17 games in 2020-21 (16-0-1) and 2002-03 (14-0-2-1)... The Avalanche is 22-0-2 when scoring first and is one of just two teams in the NHL without a regulation loss when finding the back of the net first (Edmonton: 10-0-0).
