Colorado Opens California Road Trip in Anaheim

The Colorado Avalanche begins its last road trip of the regular campaign, a three-game swing through California, before returning home for the season finale against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
With only four games remaining, Colorado finds itself in a race for the Western Conference wild-card positions. Four of the teams the Avalanche are battling with for those final spots also happen to be the teams it faces in the last four games of the season.
This will be the third and final meeting between the Ducks and Avs this campaign and the Avalanche's only visit to Anaheim. Colorado enters Sunday's contest looking to sweep the season series, having defeated the Ducks in its previous two meetings, both at Pepsi Center.

The Avalanche is 40-31-16 all-time versus the Ducks and has gone 18-14-11 all-time in Anaheim. Colorado has gone 11-7-3 this season against the Pacific, a division they'll face in all three games of this trip.
Sunday's contest marks the first Easter Sunday game for the Avalanche since April 4, 2010, a 5-4 overtime win over the San Jose Sharks at Pepsi Center.

Last Time Out

Colorado defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-0 at Pepsi Center on Friday. Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves before exiting the game with less than seven minutes left due to a lower-body injury after a collision in the crease. Jonathan Bernier came in for relief and made three saves to finish the shutout effort, the first combined team shutout in Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche history. Sven Andrighetto notched two goals, Tyson Barrie recorded a goal and added two assists, Mikko Rantanen tallied a goal and a helper and Tyson Jost also scored in the victory. Colorado's power play went 3-for-3 in the win.
The Anaheim Ducks downed the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 in overtime on Friday. The Kings entered the second period leading 1-0 but an equalizer by Nick Ritchie and a scoreless third frame sent the game to extra time. With just 19 seconds left in the overtime period, Rickard Rakell, the Ducks' goals and points leader, scored his 32nd of the season to take home the win for Anaheim. Goaltender John Gibson made 28 saves to secure the victory.

Last Time They Met

The Avalanche defeated the Ducks 3-1 at Pepsi Center on Jan. 15. Chris Wagner scored for Anaheim and Colorado received goals from Matt Nieto, Nathan MacKinnon and a power-play tally from Colin Wilson to secure the victory. The Avs' special teams units were active in the game, going 1-for-6 on the man advantage and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. Goaltender Jonathan Bernier made 33 saves to ensure the win.

Players To Watch

Colorado: Right Wing Sven Andrighetto
Sven Andrighetto is scored twice in the Avs' 5-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night. It was his first tally since Dec. 23 in Arizona, after the forward missed over two months of action with a lower-body injury. In his only game against Anaheim this season, Andrighetto notched a pair of helpers on Oct. 13 as the Avalanche won 3-1. The right wing has three points (two goals, one assist) in nine games since returning from the injury and has 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) in 46 games this campaign.
Anaheim: Defenseman Francois Beauchemin
The longtime-NHL blueliner Francois Beauchemin is expected to play in his 900th career game on Sunday. He spent two full seasons with the Avs from 2015-2017 and only missed one game during his time in Colorado. In 2015-16, his first season with the Avalanche, the D-man tied his career-high in points with 34. He returned to Anaheim this season on a one-year contract and has recorded 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) in 63 games so far. The veteran has tallied four points (one goal, three assists) in his last five games.

What To Watch

Ducks' Delinquency
The Anaheim Ducks have combined for 14 penalties in the two meetings with the Avs this season. Colorado cashed in on three of those opportunities for a 21.43-percent conversion rate. Anaheim has been shorthanded 262 times this season, making the club the fourth-most penalized team in the NHL this campaign. The Avs' power-play unit is tied for ninth in the league, being successful 21.4 percent of the time and ranks third (tied) in the NHL in power-play tallies with 61.
Four-Point Games
A pseudo-phrase used in the hockey community, a "four-point game" refers to an intra-conference contest that's played between two teams that are close in the standings. While it's not possible to actually gain four points from one hockey game, the saying refers to the potential swing in the standings in favor of the winning team. The losing team in a four-point game misses the opportunity to gain two points and the winning team gains ground, thus the potential points difference is four. Entering Sunday's matchup, Colorado can consider its remaining four games of the season to be four-point games, as each of its remaining contests are against the four teams ahead of the Avalanche in the Western Conference standings. The four clubs are currently separated by just six points.

Lineup Notes

Jonathan Bernier is expected to get the start in net for the Avalanche. After practice on Saturday, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said that goaltender Semyon Varlamov will miss the rest of the regular season with a lower-body injury and defenseman Erik Johnson will be out for at least six weeks with a fractured non-displaced patella.

The Details

Game time for the Easter Sunday matchup is slated for 7 p.m. MT. It can be watched live on Altitude and heard on FM 92.5 The Wolf or at ColoradoAvalanche.com.