The Avalanche Opens Southern California Back-to-Back at Ducks

The Colorado Avalanche hits the road for a back-to-back set in Southern California, starting in Anaheim on Friday against the Ducks.
The Avs closed out their five-game homestand with a 3-1 win over the New York Islanders on Wednesday, as Pavel Francouz made 27 saves. Andre Burakovsky, Joonas Donskoi and Gabriel Landeskog scored the goals, while Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar each earned two assists. Martin Kaut, 20, Colorado's first-round pick in 2018 (No. 16 overall), made his debut.
Anaheim lost 4-1 to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday, giving up four unanswered goals after Max Jones scored the game's first tally late in the first period.
The Avs have won four straight road games, matching a season high (Nov. 29-Dec. 7). The game in Anaheim begins a stretch that has Colorado playing eight of 10 games away from Pepsi Center.

It is the second of three matchups between the Avalanche and Ducks this year, and the only one in Anaheim. The Ducks won the first meeting 5-2 on Oct. 26 in Denver.

Avalanche vs. Anaheim Ducks

Honda Center | Anaheim, Calif.
| Game Time: | 8 p.m. | | --- | --- | | TV: | Altitude (blackouts apply), PRIT (ANA) | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, AM 950 (KKSE) | | Live Streams: | NHL.tv, AltitudeNow.com, Official app (blackouts apply to all) | | Online Audio: | Listen Live Here | | Follow: | @Avalanche, Official app, Gamecenter |

COLORADO-ANAHEIM CONNECTIONS

Avalanche left wing Matt Nieto was born in Long Beach… Ducks center Troy Terry is from Denver and played three years at the University of Denver.

HISTORY

The Avs lost 5-2 to the Ducks in the teams' last meeting, on Oct. 26, in Colorado's first home loss of the season. Nathan MacKinnon cut the deficit to 3-2 early in the third period, but Anaheim responded and later scored an empty net goal. Hampus Lindholm had three assists for the Ducks while Ryan Miller made 35 saves.
The Avs own a 40-33-17 record against the Ducks since 1995. Among current Avs, Gabriel Landeskog has the most points against Anaheim with 17 (seven goals, 10 assists) in 24 games, and MacKinnon has 15 (eight goals, seven assists) in 16 career contests.

ROSTER REPORT

The Avalanche reassigned T.J. Tynan to the American Hockey League's Colorado Eagles on Thursday and recalled Sheldon Dries… On Wednesday, head coach Jared Bednar mixed up his defensive pairings, coupling Nikita Zadorov and Samuel Girard while Erik Johnson played with Ian Cole. The Ryan Graves and Cale Makar duo remained intact.

INJURY REPORT

Mikko Rantanen (upper body), who missed his first game on Wednesday after suffering an injury on Monday, is expected to be out for a few weeks… Matt Calvert and Nazem Kadri are all expected to miss several weeks with lower-body injuries… Philipp Grubauer continues to be evaluated as he recovers from a lower-body injury... Colin Wilson (lower body), who had two surgeries earlier in the season, has continued his rehab and has been training in the gym.

SCOUTING THE DUCKS

The Ducks (24-29-7) sit in seventh place in the Pacific Division, after dropping five of their last seven games since Feb. 6 (2-3-2). Anaheim has struggled against the power play this month, surrendering eight goals in 29 short-handed situations (72.4 percent). They converted on three of 19 power-play opportunities in the same span (15.8 percent).
Ryan Getzlaf leads the team with 38 points (12 goals, 26 assists), while Jakob Silfverberg and Rickard Rakell both have 34.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: Adam Henrique

Adam Henrique has 33 points (21 goals, 12 assists) this season, with six points (four goals, two assists) in his last six games.
Since joining Anaheim in 2017, Henrique, 30, has found the scoresheet in four of six games against the Avs. He scored the first goal in the Ducks 5-2 win on Oct. 26.

NUMBERS GAME

20

Burakovsky scored for the 20 time on Wednesday, reaching the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career

33

With two more assists on Wednesday, Cale Makar now has 33, setting a new franchise rookie defenseman record for assists.

84

Nathan MacKinnon is tied for the second most points in the NHL, with 84 (33 goals, 51 assists).

NOTEBOOK

This is the second of three meetings between the Avalanche and Ducks this year; they will conclude the season series in Denver on March 4… The contest in Anaheim marks the beginning of a stretch that has Colorado playing eight of 10 games on the road... The Avs begin their 10th back-to-back set of the season on Friday… Colorado is 6-3-0 in the first contest of a back-to-back and 4-4-1 in the second. The Avs swept their most recent back-to-back, winning in Columbus and Minnesota earlier this month (Feb. 8-9)… Joonas Donskoi set a career, single-season high in goals with his 15th in Wednesday's 3-1 win… Colorado has scored 209 goals and allowed 165, giving them the third best differential in the NHL (44) behind the Lightning and the Bruins.