Colorado Faces Dallas In First Game Following Bye

The Colorado Avalanche returns from its NHL-mandated bye week and hits the road for a Saturday night tilt against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center. The matchup will be the fifth and final time these two Central-Division rivals meet this campaign.
Returning from its five-day break, the Avalanche finds itself with a 22-16-3 record (47 points) on the season after winning five outings in a row and going 5-1-0 on a season-long, six-game homestand.

The season series between these two teams is knotted at 2-2-0, with the last three contests taking place in Denver.
The Avalanche is 65-50-21 all-time against the Stars and holds a 25-33-9 record as the road team. Saturday's contest is just a one-game trip for the Avs, as they will return home afterward to play their next three.

Last Time Out

The Avalanche concluded its season-long homestand in fine fashion, first retiring long-time Avalanche forward Milan Hejduk's No. 23 jersey and then dispatching the Minnesota Wild by a score of 7-2 in front of a sold-out crowd last Saturday. Gabriel Bourque opened the scoring with his first tally of the year, Carl Soderberg netted two power-play goals, and Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen each had a goal and two assists. Goaltender Jonathan Bernier stopped 34 shots to win his fourth consecutive game.
The Dallas Stars defeated the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 on Saturday afternoon to win their second in a row and fourth in their last five contests. Alexander Radulov, Tyler Seguin and John Klingberg each recorded a goal and two assists en route to the victory, and Denver-born netminder Ben Bishop made 37 saves for the Stars.

Last Time They Met

The Avalanche hosted the Dallas Stars on Dec. 3 and fell 7-2. Mikko Rantanen and Blake Comeau scored for Colorado while Semyon Varlamov made 16 saves after coming in relief of Bernier. The Stars received two goals from Tyler Seguin and Brett Richie and also got tallies from Jason Spezza, Greg Pateryn and Devin Shore. Goalie Kari Lehtonen chipped in with 25 saves to help the Stars to victory.

What To Watch

Streaking Avs
After a successful homestand, the Avs have found themselves on a season-high, five-game win streak, their longest since Dec. 12-19, 2015. In its last 10 games, Colorado holds a record of 7-2-1 and will look to build on that streak by coming back strong from its bye week.
On The Road
While it holds a record of 15-7-1 on home ice, the Avalanche has been less successful away from Pepsi Center, going 7-9-2. The Avs will look to improve on their road mark as they get ready to play seven of their next of 10 on opponent's ice.
Avs Top Line
During its five-game win streak, Colorado's top line of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen have combined for 26 points, more than the other three Avalanche forward lines have combined for in that span (21). Top-line center Nathan MacKinnon has 12 points (three goals and nine assists) in his last five contests and is tied for second in the NHL in scoring with 52 points this season.

Players To Watch

Colorado left wing Gabriel Landeskog
In his career, Landeskog has been the most productive against the Stars, scoring at nearly a point-per-game pace. The Colorado captain has three points (two goals, one assist) in three contests against Dallas this season, and he has 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) in 25 career games versus the team from the Lone Star State.
Dallas defenseman John Klingberg
Dallas defenseman John Klingberg is tied with Jamie Benn for second in team scoring with 39 points and is just one point behind leader Tyler Seguin (40). Klingberg leads all NHL defensemen in both points (39) and assists (33) and has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his last five games. Against the Avalanche this season, Klingberg has four points (one goal, three assists) in four contests.

Lineup Notes

Jonathan Bernier will get the starting nod in net for the Avalanche, as Semyon Varlamov continues to be out with a lower-body injury. The plan is for Varlamov to return to the ice in the next two weeks and be back in the lineup following the All-Star Break at the end of the month, according to Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar. Colorado recalled Andrew Hammond from the AHL Belleville Senators on Thursday to backup Bernier.
The Avs made two other recalls on Thursday, bringing up forward A.J. Greer and defenseman David Warsofsky from the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL. Greer returns to Colorado after being sent to San Antonio following last Saturday's game, while this is Warsofsky's first NHL call-up of the season. Warsofsky has four goals and 13 points in 34 games with the Rampage this year and has played in 39 career NHL games.
Greer will likely play on Saturday as Colorado doesn't have any other healthy forwards on its active roster. A decision on Warsofsky's playing status probably won't be known until after morning skate.

The Details

Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. MT at American Airlines Center. The game will be televised on Altitude 2 and the radio broadcast can be heard locally on FM 92.5 The Wolf or online at ColoradoAvalanche.com.