Avs Face Canucks In First Game Back From The All-Star Break

The Colorado Avalanche and All-Star center Nathan MacKinnon return from the NHL All-Star Break Tuesday night to face off against the Vancouver Canucks for the first time this season. The matchup is the first of three meetings between the two teams this year and the first of two trips that the Avs will make to Vancouver in a three-week span. Colorado will play at Rogers Arena again on Feb. 20 before hosting the Canucks at Pepsi Center on Feb. 26 to close out the season series.
The Avalanche is 56-41-16 all-time versus Vancouver (since 1995-96) and boasts a 28-22-7 record at Rogers Arena.

This is the first stop of a three-game Western Canadian swing for Colorado and the fourth of six consecutive road contests for the club. The Avs play at the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday and at the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday before returning home for one game versus the San Jose Sharks next Tuesday.

Last Time Out

Colorado lost 3-1 to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday to drop its second consecutive game after winning 10 in a row. Alexander Kerfoot scored for the Avs and goaltender Jonathan Bernier made 31 saves in the effort. Paul Statsny opened the scoring for St. Louis on the power play, the first of two goals scored in the game by the Blues on the man advantage.
The Vancouver Canucks were shutout 4-0 by the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. The Canucks were held scoreless for the second time in their past three games and have lost three of their last four (1-3-0). Sabres goaltender Robin Lehner managed to stop all 30 pucks that came his way to earn his second straight shutout.

Last Time They Met

The Canucks skated out of Denver with a 3-2 win on Jan. 25, 2017. Mikko Rantanen and Matt Nieto each tallied for Colorado in the loss, and netminder Calvin Pickard made 38 saves. Vancouver received a two-goal game from Sven Baertschi and another tally from Markus Granlund in the victory.

What to Watch

Dueling Power Plays
Both Colorado and Vancouver rank in the upper half in the league on the man advantage. The Canucks currently own the No. 6 position on the power play with a 22.1-percent conversion rate. Colorado comes in at No. 11 on the advantage at 20.2 percent. As far as goals scored on the power play, the teams are separated by just one, with Colorado having the slight advantage at 37 goals scored compared to Vancouver's 36.
Lighting The Lamp
The Avs rank fifth in the NHL in goals scored per game with an average of 3.25. The Avalanche will have a great opportunity to light the lamp when the team visits the Canucks, who are tied for 25th in the league in goals allowed per game (3.18).

Player To Watch

Colorado Center Alexander Kerfoot
Vancouver, British Columbia, native Alexander Kerfoot currently sits in sixth place (tied with Chicago's Alex DeBrincat) on the rookie scoring leaderboard with 32 points through 45 contests this season. The rookie center from Harvard has chipped in 12 goals and added 20 helpers on the year. Kerfoot also owns an impressive 27.9 shooting percentage, which is good for second among rookies and third in the entire NHL for players who have played at least 15 games. He will be playing in his first NHL game in his hometown on Tuesday.
Vancouver Right Wing Brock Boeser
Canucks rookie forward Brock Boeser leads all NHL rookies in goals scored with 24 on the year and is second in rookie scoring with 43 points behind Islanders center Mathew Barzal (51). On home ice, Boeser is scoring at a little over a point-per-game pace with 23 points (13 goals and 10 assists) in 21 games and has combined for three points (two goals, one assist) in his last four contests. At All-Star Weekend, he won the NHL Accuracy Shooting skills competition on Saturday and was then named the All-Star Game MVP after helping the Pacific Division to its win on Sunday. He was honored on Monday as the NHL's First Star of the Week.

Lineup Notes

Goaltender Jonathan Bernier will make his 10th consecutive start in net for the Avalanche as Semyon Varlamov continues to recover from a lower-body injury. Varlamov is making solid progress, as he was a full participant in practice and could play his first contests since Jan. 2 sometime during this three-game Western Canada road trip. Tyson Barrie was also a full participant in Monday's practice and will likely suit up for Colorado after missing the last 12 contests with a fractured hand. J.T. Compher and Colin Wilson, both out with illnesses, are also expected to return to the Avalanche's lineup after missing some time.

The Details

Thursday's game between the Avalanche and Canucks is at 8 p.m. MT and can be watched live on Altitude. The radio broadcast can be heard on FM 92.5 The Wolf or online at ColoradoAvalanche.com.