Avs Aim To Continue Momentum Into Game 2 Against Coyotes

The Colorado Avalanche looks to take a 2-0 series lead against the Arizona Coyotes on Friday in Game 2 of the teams' first-round series at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.

Colorado picked up a thrilling Game 1 win as its patience and discipline paid off in the third period. The Avs exploded for three goals in a span of 1:23 minutes to earn the 3-0 victory.

Nazem Kadri drew first blood in the outing with a power-play goal off a pass from Nathan MacKinnon, and then J.T. Compher doubled the Avalanche's lead by scoring just 10 seconds later. Mikko Rantanen put the game on ice when he buried Colorado's third tally with less than six minutes left to play. MacKinnon was held without a shot, a first for him this season, but the Avs' top scorer still contributed two assists in outing.

Avs goaltender Philipp Grubauer saved all 14 shots he faced, the fewest allowed in franchise history, to earn his second career playoff shutout. Grubauer is one of just eight goalies since 1968 to record a playoff shutout with 14 or fewer saves. The Avs had outshot Arizona 28-7 in the first two periods of play.

Coyotes goalie Darcy Kuemper made 37 saves, the fourth time this postseason he has stopped at least that many shots.

Friday's game is the first half of a back-to-back set, the first such instance for Colorado since Games 3-4 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals on April 14-15, 2008 versus the Minnesota Wild.

Avalanche vs. Arizona Coyotes | Game 2

Rogers Place | Edmonton, Alberta

| Game Time: | 12:00 p.m. MT | | --- | --- | | TV: | Altitude, NHL Network, Sportsnet 360, TVA Sports, Fox Sports-Arizona (ARI) | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, FM 92.5 (KKSE) | | Live Streams: | NHL.tv, AltitudeNow.com, Official app (blackouts apply) | | Online Audio: | Listen Live Here | | Follow: | Virtual GameDay, Digital Arena, Playoff Central, @Avalanche, Official app, Gamecenter |

COLORADO-ARIZONA CONNECTIONS

The Avalanche acquired defenseman Kevin Connauton and a 2020 third-round pick from Arizona on June 25, 2019 in exchange for Carl Soderberg, who had played the previous four seasons in Colorado (2015-2019)… Arizona's Brad Richardson was drafted in the fifth-round by Colorado (No. 163) in 2003 and played his first three NHL seasons with the Avs (2005-2008)… Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet was an assistant coach in Colorado from 2002-2004… Avalanche defenseman Ian Cole and Arizona forward Phil Kessel were teammates on the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2015-2018 and won two Stanley Cups together with the Pens (2016 and 2017)… Kessel and Nazem Kadri both played on the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2009-2015… Colorado's Matt Nieto and Arizona's Jason Demers were teammates on the San Jose Sharks from 2013-2015… Erik Johnson and Coyotes' Alex Goligoski were teammates at the University of Minnesota in 2006-07.

HISTORY

The Avalanche and Coyotes split their regular-season series. Colorado won 3-2 in overtime at home on Oct. 12, as Andre Burakovsky scored the winning goal in his two-point effort (one goal, assist) while Cale Makar picked up two assists. The Coyotes won 3-0 in the rematch in the desert on Nov. 2 behind a 33-save night from Darcy Kuemper.

Colorado owns a 64-50-18 all-time mark against the Coyotes, dating back to when Arizona was the old Winnipeg Jets and the Avalanche was the Quebec Nordiques. Since the Avs moved to Denver in 1995, the team has a 47-30-10 record against the Coyotes franchise.

This series marks the first time that these two clubs have met in the playoffs since the 2000 conference quarterfinals when Colorado defeated the then-Phoenix Coyotes 4-1 in a best-of-seven series. The Avalanche outscored Phoenix 17-10 in the series, only falling once in Game 4.

ROSTER REPORT

Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said Thursday that he expects everyone to be available for Game 2.

SCOUTING THE COYOTES

Arizona, which finished the regular season with a 33-29-8 record and 74 points, entered the Stanley Cup Qualifier round ranked 11th in the Western Conference. Known as a physical defensive team, the Coyotes owned the fifth-best penalty kill in the NHL, stopping 82.7 percent.

Against the Nashville Predators in the qualifying round, Arizona's power play went 2-for-12 while its penalty kill went 10-for-14. The Coyotes outscored the Preds 14-9, netting four goals in all three of their wins.

Clayton Keller (two goals, two assists), Phil Kessel (one goal, three assists), Taylor Hall (one goal, three assists) and Oliver Ekman-Larsson (one goal, three assists) are all tied for the team lead in points this postseason with four each.

AVS PLAYER TO WATCH: Nathan MacKinnon

MacKinnon was held without a shot on goal for just the 17th time in his career--the second time ever in the playoffs--but the team's most prolific player still managed to grab two assists in the 3-0 win for his ninth career multi-point performance in the postseason.

MacKinnon, who has registered a shot on goal in 220 consecutive regular-season games, has five points (one goal, four assists) so far in the playoffs after finishing with the NHL's fifth-most points with 93 (35 goals, 58 assists) during the main campaign.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: Clayton Keller

Keller is tied with four other Coyotes players for the team scoring lead with four points (two goals, two assists) through five playoff games. He had a registered a point in all four games of the club's qualifying round against Nashville.

The seventh-overall pick in the 2016 draft, Keller was third on the team in scoring in the regular season with 44 points (17 goals, 27 assists).

NUMBERS GAME

1.25

Colorado has surrendered an average of 1.25 goals per game through four playoff contests, the second-fewest in the NHL (Philadelphia Flyers, 1.00)

2

The Avalanche has won in a shutout twice this postseason, joining the Columbus Blue Jackets as the only teams to post two clean slates.

3

The magic number in recent games between the Avs and Coyotes seems to be three; Colorado won 3-2 in overtime on Oct. 12 and then Arizona won 3-0 on Nov. 2 before the Avs responded in kind in Game 1 on Wednesday

14

Colorado allowed just 14 shots on goal, the fewest in franchise playoff history and the fewest that any team has given up in the postseason since 2017.

NOTEBOOK

The Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques franchise has played 19 total back-to-back sets in the playoffs and is 8-11 in the first contest and 10-9 in the second when playing on consecutive days… Both Philip Grubauer and Pavel Francouz have now registered a shutout in the 2020 postseason, the first time in franchise history in which multiple goaltenders have recorded at least one in a playoff year… The Avs won both of their two Game 2s in 2019, beating the Calgary Flames 3-2 in OT and then the San Jose Sharks 4-3… Three players on the Avalanche lead the squad with five points apiece and have also recorded at least a point in every contest of the 2020 playoffs: Nazem Kadri (two goals, three assists), Nathan MacKinnon (one goal, four assists) and Mikko Rantanen (one goal, four assists).