Avalanche Continues Road Trip in Los Angeles

After concluding its season series against the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday, the Colorado Avalanche continues its five-game road trip at the Los Angeles Kings on Friday. It is the first contest of a back-to-back set between the clubs.
Colorado (34-13-4) fell 3-2 in its final matchup against the Sharks on Wednesday. Andre Burakovsky scored for the third straight game and Tyson Jost also found the back of the net, while Conor Timmins registered an assist for his third over the last three games. Netminder Philipp Grubauer fought off 30 shots in his 37th game of the campaign.

The Kings are coming off a 4-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday, earning a two-game sweep against the Yotes. Anze Kopitar recorded his 1,000th NHL point with an assist, the fourth player to reach the milestone in a Kings jersey. Gabriel Vilardi notched his first career two-goal game and Sean Walker collected three points (one goal, two assists) for the first time in his career. Goaltender Calvin Petersen stopped 28-of-30 shots in the win.
Friday's contest is the Avalanche's fifth meeting with the Kings this year and the third at Staples Center. The squads will face off one more time in Southern California on Saturday before rounding out the season series with a back-to-back set in Denver on May 12-13.

Avalanche at Los Angeles Kings

Staples Center | Los Angeles, Calif.
| Game Time: | 8:00 p.m. | | --- | --- | | TV: | Altitude 2, Bally Sports West (LAK), Sportsnet One | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, AM 950 (KKSE) | | Live Streams: | AltitudeNow.com, Official app (blackouts apply to all) | | Online Audio: | Listen Live Here | | Follow: | @Avalanche, Official app, Gamecenter |

COLORADO-LOS ANGELES CONNECTIONS

Avalanche assistant coach Ray Bennett spent seven years as an assistant coach for the Kings (1999-2006) … Kings general manager Rob Blake played parts of five seasons with Colorado, winning a Stanley Cup with the Avs in 2001… Los Angeles forward Brendan Lemieux was born in Denver and is the son of former Avalanche player Claude Lemieux, who played for the team from 1995-1999… Kings center Trevor Moore played at the University of Denver from 2013-2016.

HISTORY

Colorado and Los Angeles last faced off just under two months ago as the Avalanche completed a two-game sweep from March 12-14 in Denver. The Avs took the first matchup with a 2-0 shutout behind Philipp Grubauer's 18-save night and went on to pick up a 4-1 victory in the second meeting that featured multi-point nights from Andre Burakovsky (one goal, one assist) and Nazem Kadri (one goal, one assist). The club has outscored the Kings 11-7 through the first four contests, while outshooting the Kings by an average of 34.3-24.5.
Overall, the Avs boast a 3-1-0 record against Los Angeles on the season and a 1-1-0 on the road. All time, Colorado holds a 60-66-15 mark versus the Kings, with a 6-3-1 record over the last 10 meetings.

ROSTER REPORT

Rookie Alex Newhook made his NHL debut on Wednesday and defenseman Jacob MacDonald returned to the lineup after missing seven games with a lower-body injury, with Kiefer Sherwood and Dan Renouf being scratched. Netminders Philipp Grubauer and Jonas Johansson are expected to split the games in the back-to-back set.

INJURY UPDATE

Head coach Jared Bednar said on Thursday that Samuel Girard (lower body) and Brandon Saad (lower body) could possibly return to the lineup prior to the end of the regular season as the two are participating in off-ice workouts in Denver. Devan Dubnyk is on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list, while Bowen Byram (upper body) is week-to-week. Logan O'Connor (lower body) and Matt Calvert (upper body) are both considered out long term. Pavel Francouz is out the remainder of the season with a lower-body injury and Erik Johnson (upper body) could return later in the playoffs.

SCOUTING THE KINGS

The Kings have found their form over their past six games as the club has won three of the last four and four of six since going on a 1-4-0 stretch from April 12-24. Los Angeles (21-24-6) is still in the race for the final playoff spot in the West Division with 48 points, as the squad is trailing the fourth-place St. Louis Blues (56 points) by eight points with both squads having five more games remaining.
At home, the Kings own a 9-12-4 mark, including a 3-7-0 record over the last 10. The club has struggled on the offensive end at Staples Center, producing just 67 goals on home ice for the fifth fewest in the league (tied). However, one strong suit on home ice has been the Kings' power-play unit, with the squad converting on 22.7 percent of its opportunities, the 13th best man advantage at home in the NHL.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: ALEX IAFALLO

Alex Iafallo has been a steady producer this season for Los Angeles, tallying 12 goals and 16 assists in 50 games and registering a point in two straight contests (one goal, one assist) after not finding scoresheet from April 14-May 1. The forward ranks third on the Kings in assists, fourth in goals and fifth in points (28). Iafallo is in his fourth NHL campaign--playing all with Los Angeles--and has recorded 129 points (53 goals, 76 assists) in 277 career contests.
In 11 all-time meetings versus the Avs, the 27-year-old has one goal and four assists, with a plus-1 rating. This season, Iafallo has notched two assists in four games.

NUMBERS GAME

1

The Avalanche/Nordiques franchise sits one win shy of 1,500 regular season victories (1499-1327-261-142). The Avs are aiming to become the 18th NHL franchise to reach 1,500 and the first among the 1979 WHA expansion teams.

204x4.34

Nathan MacKinnon's 204 shots on net this season are the third most in the NHL, while his 4.34 shots per game rank first in the league.

362

The Avalanche's forward group has combined for 362 points on the year, the fourth-most in the NHL while its 156 goals rank third.

NOTEBOOK

The Avalanche is 22-4-2 this season when not allowing a power-play goal against, while going 12-9-2 when giving up one or more goals on the man advantage… Colorado is 14-9-2 on the road this season, while owning a plus-6 goal differential in games away from Denver… In the first game of back-to-backs, the Avs sport a 7-1-0 mark… Philipp Grubauer has collected the second most wins (27) and shutouts (six), while sporting the fourth-best, goals-against average among goalies who have played 10 or more games… The Avalanche owns a 15-4-1 mark when playing games teams from the state of California this season to go along with its 3-1-0 record against the Kings… The Avs have put 30 or more shots on net in seven consecutive games and have played a total of 41 contests when the club has registered 30 or more shots, owning a 28-11-2 in such matchups.