Avs and Coyotes Clash Again Wednesday

The Colorado Avalanche hosts the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday, the club's first game following the NHL's Holiday Break and the second meeting in less than a week between the teams, who clashed on Saturday night at Gila River Arena.
Colorado is 43-27-10 overall against the Coyotes franchise, including a 21-12-6 mark on home ice in the series.

Last Time Out/Last Time They Met

The Avalanche and Coyotes squared off on Saturday night at Gila River Arena, where the Avs took a commanding 6-2 win. Carl Soderberg scored twice and Matt Nieto, Mark Barberio and Alexander Kerfoot each recorded multi-point games for Colorado, which scored four goals in less than four minutes during the second period after a scoreless opening stanza. The Avalanche also finished 3-for-7 on the power play, the first time since Feb. 11, 2016 that the club has registered three man-advantage tallies.
Derek Stepan notched both goals for Arizona, which dropped its second contest of a back-to-back set. The Coyotes were scoreless on five power-play chances.

What to Watch

The Homestand Begins
Wednesday night's contest is the beginning of a season-long six-game homestand for the Avalanche, which is currently in a stretch that has them playing 12-of-15 at Pepsi Center. Colorado is 10-6-1 on home ice this season and its 61 goals at home is tied for sixth in the league and third in the Western Conference.
A Streak Continues
Mikko Rantanen extended his career-long assist/point streak to six games with an assist on Saturday night. The winger now has seven points (1g, 6a) in his last six outings and the longest assist streak by an Avalanche player in more than two years, since Gabriel Landeskog had a five-game run from Nov. 19-28, 2015.

Player to Watch

Colorado: Goaltender Semyon Varlamov
Varlamov finished with 32 saves against the Coyotes on Saturday and is 2-1-0 in his last three starts with a 1.66 goals-against average and .946 save percentage. The netminder has an 8-6-2 career record against Arizona.
Arizona: Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Ekman-Larsson enters tonight's game ranked third on the Coyotes in points with 19 (6g, 13a) and is one goal away from tying Dave Ellett for second place in franchise history for goals by a defenseman.

The Details

Wednesday night's contest between the Avalanche and the Coyotes begins at 7 p.m. MT, and tickets are still available. The game can be watched live on Altitude 2 and the radio broadcast can be heard on Altitude Sports Radio AM950 or online at ColoradoAvalanche.com.