Avalanche Hosts Red Wings Before Break

The Colorado Avalanche conclude a season-long homestand at Pepsi Center with a 1 p.m. MT game on Monday against the Detroit Red Wings for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Colorado defeated the division-rival St. Louis Blues 5-3 on Saturday by overcoming a 2-1 deficit to claim the victory. After Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring four minutes into the first period, St. Louis tallied twice to take a lead. Tyson Jost evened the score at 2-2 in the second period before Cale Makar and Andre Burakovsky found the back of the net with a goal apiece in a matter of 22 seconds, the second fastest two goals the Avs have scored this season. The Blues tallied in the third, but an empty-net marker from Gabriel Landeskog secured the division win and gave the Avs' 60 total points this season (27-15-6).

The Red Wings are coming off a 4-1 loss at home to the Florida Panthers on Saturday, the second half of a back-to-back set for the club. Dylan Larkin scored the lone goal in the game for Detroit in the second period, as the Panthers found the back of the net twice in both the first and third periods to get the win and hand the Wings their fourth loss in a row.
This will be the first meeting between the Avs and Red Wings this season and the only one at Pepsi Center. The two teams will face off for the final time in 2019-20 in Detroit on March 2.
For Colorado, this will be the team's last game for 11 days as it heads into the NHL All-Star Break and its league-mandated bye week.

Avalanche vs. Detroit Red Wings

Pepsi Center | Denver, Colo.
| Game Time: | 1 p.m. | | --- | --- | | TV: | Altitude, NHL Network (blackouts apply), Fox Sports-Detroit (DET) | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, FM 92.5/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 | | Get Tickets | Altitude Tickets Account Manager | Pepsi Center | Parking |

COLORADO-DETROIT CONNECTIONS

Avs defenseman Ian Cole is from Ann Arbor, Michigan, and skated two seasons at the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor from 2005-2006… Colorado forward J.T. Compher also played at U.S. NTDP from 2011-2013 before skating three seasons at the University of Michigan from 2013-2016… Detroit goaltender Jonathan Bernier played for Colorado during the 2017-18 campaign… Fellow netminder Calvin Pickard was drafted 49th overall by Colorado in 2010 and spent his first three NHL seasons with the Avs from 2014-2017… Red Wings defenseman Patrik Nemeth was a member of the Avalanche from 2017-2019.

HISTORY

The Avs own a 54-61-10 all-time franchise record against the Red Wings, including a 28-27-8 mark as the home team. Colorado has won six of the last eight matchups against Detroit going back to the 2015-16 campaign and have not fallen to the club since the 2016-17 season. One of the losses to the Red Wings came in February 2016 in the NHL Stadium Series at Coors Field where Detroit topped the Avalanche 5-3.
The Avs' have won four straight games against the Wings, their most in the all-time series since moving to Denver in 1995 and the second-most in franchise history (Quebec, five games, March 17, 1981-Oct. 20, 1982).

ROSTER REPORT

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare took a maintenance day from practice on Sunday and is expected to play against the Red Wings. Head coach Jared Bednar did not reveal his starting goalie for the game on Sunday.

INJURY UPDATE

Joonas Donskoi skated in practice as a full-contact participant for the first time since suffering a concussion on Jan. 7 at the New York Rangers, but Bednar said after practice on Sunday that he won't play on Monday and will return following the break. Colin Wilson (lower body) is out indefinitely after having surgery.

SCOUTING THE RED WINGS

Detroit owns a 12-33-4 mark this season and has earned 28 total points. The Red Wings rank ninth in the NHL with 22.49 hits per 60 minutes of game play. Detroit kills 73 percent of its penalties (31st in the NHL) and scores on 14.6 percent of its power-play opportunities, ranking 29th in the league. The Red Wings have had 158 power-play chances this season to tie for seventh in the league and have scored 23 total power-play goals. Detroit's 2.10 goals per game and 28.1 shots per game are both 31st in the NHL.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: Dylan Larkin

Dylan Larkin ranks second on the Red Wings in scoring after registering 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) so far this season. He scored his 100th career goal on Saturday against the Florida Panthers, and he leads the team with 151 shots. Larkin has scored five power-play goals this season to tie for the top spot on Detroit. The center ranks second on his team in even-strength points (23), power-play points (nine) and faceoff percentage 52.5 percent).
Larkin was selected in the first round (No. 15 overall) of the 2014 draft by Detroit and made his NHL debut in 2015. Currently in his sixth season in the league, he has tallied 245 career points (100 goals, 145 assists) in 367 outings.

NUMBERS GAME

11

With his 11th goal of the season on Saturday, Cale Makar set the franchise record for the most goals by a rookie defenseman in a single campaign. The previous mark was set by John Michael-Liles (10) in 2003-04.

60

The Avs earned their 60th point of the season with the victory over St. Louis on Saturday, making them the seventh team to reach that mark this season. Colorado is in second place in the Western Conference behind only the Blues (68 points).

100

Andre Burakovsky recorded his 100th career assist on Saturday against the Blues. He found the back of the net in the game as well to bring his career total to 176 points (76 goals, 100 assists) in six NHL seasons.

NOTEBOOK

Cale Makar is tied for the most points by an NHL rookie this season and leads all rookie defensemen in points (35)… The Avs are tied with the Washington Capitals for the most wins after leading following the second period (22)… Colorado is playing its second of four home afternoon games this season, and its second in as many contests… The Avs are undefeated (3-0-0) in day games this year, outscoring opponents 16-6 in those outings… Colorado has points in each outing of its five-game homestand (2-0-2), which is tied for its longest homestay this year… The Avalanche returns from its 11-day break on Feb. 1 at the Philadelphia Flyers to begin a five-game road trip.