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, and was a piece of the Stanley Cup team in 2001… Los Angeles forward Brendan Lemieux was born in Denver and is the son of former Avalanche player Claude Lemieux, who played in Colorado from 1995-1999… Kings center Trevor Moore played at the University of Denver from 2013-2016… L.A. defenseman Christian Wolanin is the son of Craig Wolanin, who was on the Avs' Stanley Cup team in 1996.
HISTORY
The Avalanche hold a 64-66-7 record against the Kings, 37-29-2 at home, 27-37-5 on the road.
Due to division realignment, last season Colorado and Los Angeles became division rivals. The two teams met eight times, with the Avs maintaining a 7-1-0 record against the Kings.
ROSTER REPORT
With Nazem Kadri earning a spot at the all-star game, three Avalanche players will be represented in the all-star game, the most since the 2018-19 season.
INJURY REPORT
Valeri Nichushkin remains in health and safety protocol. Bowen Byram continues to be sidelined with concerns over head injuries. Darren Helm is out, rehabbing a lower body injury. Jacob MacDonald is sidelined with an upper-body injury he sustained on Dec. 12. Stefan Matteau is expected to remain out while he rehabs a lower-body injury from October 2021.
SCOUTING THE WILD
The Kings currently maintain a 20-15-5 record, keeping them at second in the Pacific Division. Los Angeles ranks 25th in the league on power play (16.7 percent) and 29th in the league on penalty kill (74.1 percent).
(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: Anze Kopitar
Center Anze Kopitar is leading the Kings in points by a wide margin, tallying 35 points (12 goals, 23 assists) so far this season. He has seven points in the month of January.
NUMBERS GAME
600
Nathan MacKinnon has played 600 career NHL games.
60
Nazem Kadri has passed Cody McLeod on the franchise points leaderboard, now standing at 60th all time.
38
Avalanche defensemen have scored 38 goals this season, 11 more than the next closest team (Vegas Golden Knights). This mark is already the most by an Avalanche team since 2018-19 (39)
NOTEBOOK
The Avalanche has posted shutouts in consecutive road games for the first time in franchise history... Pavel Francouz has passed Jonas Johansson on the franchise shutouts leaderboard, now maintaining 16th all-time.
