Avalanche Heads to Dallas for Division Rivalry Rematch
Colorado looks for win in final contest of two-game road trip
by Kate Reed / ColoradoAvalanche.com
The Colorado Avalanche plays at the Dallas Stars on Tuesday after hosting the Central Division opponent on Friday, a game in which the Avs fell 2-1.
Colorado has an 8-4-2 record this season, including a 1-2-0 mark against divisional opponents, and has earned 18 points to tie the club for second place in the Central Division. The Avalanche faced its first shutout of the season on Saturday, falling 3-0 to the Arizona Coyotes.
Nathan MacKinnon leads the Avs with 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) this season. Mikko Rantanen and Nazem Kadri have both recorded five goals, giving them a total of 12 (Rantanen) and nine points (Kadri) respectively. Cale Makar leads all NHL rookie defensemen with 11 points (one goal, 10 assists), and he remains tied for the lead among all NHL rookies.
The Stars are 7-8-1 after a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday in Dallas where seven different players recorded points. Right wing Denis Gurianov recorded a career-high seven shots on goal against Montreal and scored two of the Stars' four goals. Dallas has won its last three games, two of those by a margin of two or more.
The contest in Dallas is the second of seven division rivalry games in November, with the Avs playing the Nashville Predators, Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks later this month.
Avalanche at Dallas Stars
American Airlines Center | Dallas, Texas
| Game Time: | 6:30 p.m. MT |
| TV: | Altitude (blackouts apply), Fox Sports Southwest (DAL), ESPN+ |
| Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, 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 |
COLORADO-DALLAS CONNECTIONS
Avs right wing Valeri Nichushkin was picked in the first round (10th overall) of the 2013 draft by the Dallas Stars and played his first four NHL seasons with the franchise… Stars right wing Blake Comeau played for Colorado from 2015-2018…Dallas goaltender Ben Bishop was born in Denver…Stars head coach Jim Montgomery was the head coach at the University of Denver from 2013-2018.
HISTORY
Colorado holds a 69-52-21 all-time record against the Stars, with a 27-34-9 mark as the visiting team. Since moving to Denver in 1995, the Avalanche are 46-34-17 versus the Stars. The Avs won three of the four matchups against Dallas in the 2018-19 season, including both games at Pepsi Center and a 3-1 victory on March 21 in Dallas. So far this campaign, Colorado is 0-1-0 against the Stars.
The Central Division rivals faced off on Friday in Denver and Dallas won 2-1. Nathan MacKinnon scored for Colorado while Roope Hintz tallied both Stars goals and Anton Khudobin made 38 saves for Dallas.
The two teams have met four times in playoff contests since 1995 with each club winning two series. The Avs came out on top of the match up in 2006, winning four of the five games played in the best-of-seven series.
ROSTER REPORT
Colorado is expected to use the same lineup it had at the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday. Defenseman Mark Barberio was the Avalanche's lone healthy scratch.
INJURY UPDATE
Colin Wilson is day-to-day with a lower-body injury… Mikko Rantanen remains week-to-week with a lower-body injury… Gabriel Landeskog is out of the lineup indefinitely with a lower-body injury.
SCOUTING THE STARS
Dallas holds a 7-8-1 record and has won six of its last seven games. The club has played 16 games, the most so far in the Central Division, and has earned 15 of the possible 32 points. The Stars currently sit in fifth place in the division, two spots behind the Avs. Dallas is 4-3-1on its home ice this season.
(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: Roope Hintz
Roope Hintz scored both of the goals for Dallas in Friday's contest at Pepsi Center. He has 11 points (nine goals, two assists) this season after 16 games, making him the top point-scorer for the Stars so far. The left wing is also on a three-game point streak after tallying against the Minnesota Wild and Avalanche and recording an assist against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
Hintz was selected in the second-round by Dallas (49th overall) in the 2015 draft. He played the next two season with HIFK in Finland before moving to North America for the 2017-18 campaign. Hintz has skated in 74 career NHL games and has tallied 33 points (18 goals, 15 assists).
NUMBERS GAME
28
Nathan MacKinnon has 28 career points (10 goals, 18 assists) against the Stars over 28 games, his most against any team.
200
Nazem Kadri recorded the 200th assist of his career on Friday against the Stars. Kadri has nine points (five goals, four assists), tied for fourth on the Avs so far this season. He spent his first 10 NHL seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs before Colorado acquired him this past July. Kadri has 366 points (166 goals, 200 assists) in 575 career games.
400
The contest against Dallas is projected to be Pierre-Edouard Bellemare's 400th career NHL game. He spent his first three NHL seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers and the past two with the Vegas Golden Knights. He is playing his sixth professional season in Colorado and has tallied 72 points (32 goals, 40 assists) in his NHL career. This season, Bellemare has seven points (three goals, four assists) with the Avs, making him the eighth leading point-scorer for the team.
NOTEBOOK
Valeri Nichushkin will play for the second regular-season game against his old club since signing in Colorado in the offseason as a free agent--he did skate in preseason game against Dallas in Denver… Cale Makar is tied for first place in the league for the most points by a rookie … Makar's 10 assists are the most by a rookie this year…Colorado is tied for the sixth fewest goals-against in the league, having allowed 38 goals so far this season… The Avalanche will return to Pepsi Center to play Nashville on Thursday.