THE GOALS
1st Period
4:58 ANA (1-0) - PPG Sonny Milano nudged the puck into the net over a downed Darcy Kuemper from a missing skate blade, after a Jamie Drysdale missed shot and a rebound attempt by Rickard Rakell.
19:06 COL (1-1) - Cale Makar from Nazem Kadri along board on the left side, makes a shot from the point and finds the back of the net through heavy traffic.
2nd Period
2:49 COL (1-2) - Quick shot from Tyson Jost to Devon Toews from the right side. Toews took a quick slap shot through traffic and the puck was tipped in blocker side by Alex Newhook.
10:25 COL (1-3) - Ryan Murray's slap shot rebounded for Jayson Megna to chop the puck to Nicolas Aube-Kubel. Aube-Kubel's first shot was blocked then the rebound quickly shot again in front of the net to make it pass John Gibson.
3rd Period
0:57 COL (1-4) - PPG Mikko Rantanen took a low shot from the top of the zone just wide enough for Nazem Kadri to redirect the puck into the net.
15:22 COL (1-5) - Erik Johnson passed the puck to Andre Burakovksy, bringing the puck into the zone for Valeri Nichushkin to make a quick shot from right side to find the back of the net.
16:07 ANA (2-5) - PPG Sonny Milano redirected a wide shot from Jamie Drysdale for his second goal of the night.
Final: Avalanche 5, Ducks 2
3 STARS
Selected by Colorado Hockey Coach of the Game - Matt Ruhland of the Arvada Hockey Association.
POWER PLAYS
Colorado: 1/7
Anaheim: 2/3
GOALTENDING BATTLE
Colorado: Darcy Kuemper and Jonas Johansson combined to allow 2 goals from 26 shots.
Anaheim: John Gibson allowed 5 goals from 36 shots.
STAT OF THE NIGHT
Jared Bednar now has the most coaching wins in Avalanche history with 194. Bednar passes Bob Hartley on the list.
NOTEBOOK
Tonight's game against the Ducks is the first of three meetings between the two teams, two in Denver and one in Anaheim. Last season, the Avalanche finished 6-1-1 against Anaheim with a 3-0-1 record at home. Nazem Kadri extends his point streak to 10 games (6 goals, 15 assists), setting a new career high streak. Kadri also extends his career-long assist streak to eight games. Colorado is 7-0-0 this season with Nichushkin in the lineup.
On this day in Avalanche history (Nov. 24, 2001), Ray Bourque's #77 jersey was retired by the team in a pre-game ceremony before a 2-0 victory over the Oilers.
ROSTER REPORT
Kurtis MacDermid rejoins the starting lineup, his last appearance was in the home contest against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 3.
Nathan MacKinnon, Bowen Byram, Martin Kaut and Pavel Francouz continue to be out, but have all been present at recent practices. MacKinnon, Byram and Kaut all skating in red, non-contact jerseys.
INJURY UPDATE
Nathan MacKinnon is expected to join the team on their two-week road trip at the beginning of December, after being out with a lower-body injury for the past three weeks. J.T. Compher continues to be out for an upper-body injury. Stefan Matteau is still out after sustaining a lower-body injury on Oct. 16. Bowen Byram is under concussion protocol and will continue to be evaluated. Both Martin Kaut and Pavel Francouz are considered week-to-week.
UP NEXT
The Colorado Avalanche will travel to Dallas for a one-game road trip to face the Stars on Friday.
LINE COMBINATIONS
Based on the start of the game
Forwards
92 Landeskog - 96 Rantanen - 25 O'Connor
13 Nichushkin - 91 Kadri - 95 Burakovsky
17 Jost - 18 Newhook - 16 Aube-Kubel
43 Helm - 12 Megna - 56 MacDermid
Defensemen
7 Toews - 8 Makar
3 J. Johnson - 49 Girard
6 E. Johnson - 28 Murray
Goaltenders
35 Kuemper
31 Johansson
