Colorado Begins Homestand Against Anaheim

Following a four-game road trip to Arizona and San Jose, the Colorado Avalanche comes home to host the Anaheim Ducks in a back-to-back set at Ball Arena starting on Friday. It is the beginning of a season-long, nine-game homestand for the club.
The Avs (12-7-1) finished their trip in the win column with a 4-0 shutout against the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday, returning home with a 3-1-0 record on the journey. Gabriel Landeskog (one goal, three assists) and Mikko Rantanen (two goals, two assists) each factored on all of Colorado's goals. Landeskog notched his lone marker on the power play--extending his goal streak to three contests with all of them coming on the man advantage--while Samuel Girard also found the back of the net for the second consecutive matchup and increased his point streak to three games. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer registered his third clean sheet of the season, stopping all 26 shots.

Anaheim fell 3-2 to the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday and is 1-7-2 in its last 10 outings. Trevor Zegras collected his first career NHL point with an assist on Rickard Rakell's third-period tally. Rakell recorded a point for the third-straight game and Max Comtois scored his team-leading ninth goal of the campaign. Netminder John Gibson rejected 18-of-21 pucks.
Colorado is 1-1-0 so far against Anaheim this year. Friday's matchup is the third of eight between the two teams this year and the first of four at Ball Arena.

Avalanche at Anaheim Ducks

Ball Arena | Denver, Colo.
| Game Time: | 7 p.m. MT | | --- | --- | | TV: | Altitude, Fox Sports-San Diego (ANA) | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, FM 92.5 (KKSE) | | Live Streams: | AltitudeNow.com, Official app (blackouts apply to all) | | Online Audio: | Listen Live Here | | Follow: | @Avalanche, Official app, Gamecenter |

COLORADO-ANAHEIM CONNECTIONS

Avalanche forward Kiefer Sherwood spent two seasons as a part of the Ducks organization from 2018-20… Ducks defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk was Colorado's first-round draft choice in 2007 (No. 14 overall) and began his career with the Avalanche in 2010-11… Anaheim forward Danton Heinen played at the University of Denver from 2014-16… Ducks forward Troy Terry was born in Denver and also skated at the University of Denver from 2015-18.

HISTORY

The Avalanche visited the Ducks for the first two matchups of the season series, splitting the two-game set versus the club. Colorado took the first contest 3-2 at Honda Center on Jan. 22, thanks to Landeskog's overtime winner. Two days later on Jan. 24, Anaheim evened up the series with a 3-1 victory as John Gibson stood strong in between the pipes, making 32 saves on the night. Through the first two meetings, Rantanen's two goals and Landeskog's goal and assist lead the Avalanche, while Philipp Grubauer owns a 1-1-0 mark with a .923 save percentage and 2.00 goals-against average.
Colorado sports an all-time 43-35-18 mark against Anaheim, including a 4-4-2 record in the last 10 matchups. Since the franchise relocated to Denver in 1995-96, the Avalanche boasts a 22-18-6 mark when hosting Anaheim

ROSTER REPORT

Colorado traveled back to the Mile High City and did not skate on Thursday, so its lineup likely won't be known until after Friday's morning skate. The Avs have used the same roster for the previous two games and keeper Philipp Grubauer has start in three straight contests.

INJURY UPDATE

Nathan MacKinnon left Wednesday's game in the third period after receiving a high hit, but head coach Jared Bednar said after the contest that the forward "seems to be doing good." Pavel Francouz (lower body), Dennis Gilbert (upper body) and Erik Johnson (upper body) are all out long term with injuries. Bowen Byram (upper body), Matt Calvert (upper body) and Cale Makar (upper body) are all day-to-day.

SCOUTING THE DUCKS

Anaheim (6-12-5) sits in eighth place in the West Division, holding a 3-5-2 record on the road. Away from home, the Ducks own the sixth-best man-down unit in the league, killing 86.4 percent of their penalties. Overall, the club uses the body to its advantage, delivering 585 hits this season, which ranks fifth in the NHL.
In 46 contests as the visiting team against the Avs since 1995-96, Anaheim possesses a 20-19-7 record with a 7-3-0 mark in the last 10 times it has played at Ball Arena.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: MAX COMTOIS

After registering five goals and six assists in 29 games in his rookie season last year, Max Comtois has set new highs in both goals (nine) and points (15) through 23 contests this campaign. The forward leads the club in both tallies and points and is tied for first with three power-play points. Over his last five outings, Comtois has recorded two goals and four assists, getting on the scoresheet in four out of those five games.
Against the Avs, the skater has notched one goal and six hits with a plus-1 rating in three meetings.

NUMBERS GAME

5

Philipp Grubauer took over fifth place on the franchise's all-time shutouts list on Wednesday as he recorded his eighth clean sheet in an Avalanche sweater, the 14th of his career. It was his third shutout of the season, which is tied for the most in the league. Grubauer's 11 victories are tied for third in the NHL.

15

The Avs have scored first in 15 of their 20 contests this year, going 11-3-1 in such games and owning the third-most wins in the league when tallying the first goal.

55

Gabriel Landeskog scored the 55th power-play goal of his career on Wednesday, passing Peter Forsberg (54) for sole possession of fourth place in Avalanche history (since 1995). The captain has registered a goal on the man advantage in three consecutive games.

NOTEBOOK

The contest marks the beginning of a nine-game homestand for the Avalanche, the longest continuous homestand in franchise history ... The Avs had a nine-game homestand once before in 2001-02 but that was wrapped around the Olympic Break ... This homestay will include visits from Anaheim (two games), Arizona (two), Los Angeles (two), Anaheim again (one game) and Minnesota (two)… Colorado holds a 5-3-0 record at Ball Arena with a plus-7 goal differential… Nathan MacKinnon is in the midst of a four-game point streak, collecting one goal and three assists during the stretch. With his 322nd career assist on Wednesday, MacKinnon passed Alex Tanguay (321) for fourth in Avalanche history and moved into a tie with Dale Hunter for seventh place in franchise history… Mikko Rantanen matched his career-high with four points (2 goals, 2 assists), reaching the four-point mark in a game for the eighth time and tied MacKinnon for the team lead in scoring with 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists)… Samuel Girard is one point away from his 100th in his NHL career.