COLORADO AVALANCHE (21-11-2) AT ARIZONA COYOTES (17-14-2)
7:00 PM MDT | MULLETT ARENA | WATCH: ALTITUDE TV | LISTEN: 92.5 FM
The Colorado Avalanche get back to work and face the Arizona Coyotes again on the back end of the NHL Holiday Break. The Avs’ victory on Saturday snapped the Yotes’ four-game win streak, but will now take on a Coyotes club that’s won seven of their last eight at home. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. MDT and will be broadcasted on Altitude TV.
Latest Results: December 23, 2023 COL: 4 ARI: 1
LAST GAME MELODY
The Avs extended their home win streak to a season-high five games with a 4-1 victory over Arizona on Dec. 23 just before the Holiday Break. Colorado scored early and often, beginning with a wrist shot through traffic off the stick of Bowen Byram. The Avalanche sprinkled in three goals throughout the middle frame, beginning with Valeri Nichushkin hammering home a feed from Nathan MacKinnon. The cross-seam pass from MacKinnon extended his point streak to 18 games. Josh Manson widened the lead to 3-0 midway in the period, and Fredrik Olofsson made it 4-0 with just eight seconds left in the second off a no-look, behind-the-back pass from Andrew Cogliano. Alex Kerfoot spoiled the Alexandar Georgiev shutout bid late in the third period by redirecting Michael Carcone’s shot on the power play, but Georgiev finished with 24 saves to win his second game in a row and improve to 17-8-1 on the campaign.
AVS ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Nathan MacKinnon notched an assist on Saturday to find the scoresheet for the 18th consecutive game dating back to Nov. 20, posting 12g/22a in that span. The 18-game point streak is the longest the NHL has seen in 2023-24.
The centerman is up to 25 points in December (10g/15a). That’s tied for the most points the centerman has recorded in a calendar month in his career (November of 2019) and three shy of Peter Stastny’s franchise record of 28 (12g/16a) set in February of 1981.
Valeri Nichushkin has scored in three of his last four games and enters Wednesday on a seven-game point streak. In his last four showings, Nichushkin has recorded 4g/3a and has collected 6g/6a in his last seven. He’s posted 15 goals since Nov. 9 which is tied for the NHL-lead in that span (Auston Matthews and Zach Hyman).
Ross Colton assisted on Bowen Byram’s goal on Saturday. His next point will be the 100th of his career.
HISTORY
The Avalanche/Nordiques own a 76-53-12-9 all-time record against the Coyotes/Jets franchise, with a 35-29-7-4 mark on the road. Saturday’s win improved Colorado to 12-3-3 in their past 18 matchups with Arizona since the start of 2020-21. In Arizona, the Avs are 2-2-1 in the last five road contests with the Yotes and hold a 3.00 goals per game along with an even 3.00 goals against per game (excluding shootout-deciding tallies). The two clubs met at Mullett Arena last season exactly one year ago today, the Avs’ first ever contest in the Yotes’ current venue.
STATS TO KNOW
Mikko Rantanen’s five points (2g/3a) in Mullett Arena share the second-most an opponent has registered since the venue opened. He trails only Jason Robertson’s six points (3g/3a).
Rantenen did not find the scoresheet on Saturday, but the winger has notched six points (1g/5a) in his last five appearances against Arizona regardless of location. His 15 career goals are tied for the most he’s recorded against any franchise (Blues, Ducks, Sharks).
Nathan MacKinnon’s 18-game point streak has catapulted him into second in the NHL points race with 54 (18g/36a). He leads the league in assists, even-strength points (34) and is tied for the most multi-point games (17).
CONFIDENT COYOTES
Clayton Keller paces the Coyotes with 30 points (12g/18a). The winger has registered over a point per game since the start of 2022-23, posting 116 points (49g/67a) in 115 games in that span.
Former-Avalanche Alex Kerfoot scored the lone goal on Dec. 23 and has recorded 12 points (3g/9a) in 11 December contests to lead Arizona this month.
15 (1g/14a) of Kerfoot’s 21 points this season have come at home. The 14 home helpers rank tied for 12th in the NHL.
NUMBERS GAME
5
The Avalanche and Coyotes play twice in a five-day span. This is the fourth consecutive season the teams have gone head-to-head twice in the regular season within five days of each other.
20
Saturday was Colorado’s 20th regulation win. Only Vancouver (22) has more.
27
Colorado got two goals from defenseman on Saturday night to reclaim the most cumulative tallies by blueliners this season, now with 27.
QUOTE(S) THAT LEFT A MARK
On Tonight’s Game: “I thought all lines were really good tonight. We played the right way. I don’t know, I just think that’s exactly the game we’re going to have to play. We checked really hard, we got above pucks, our reloads and our tracking were the best we’ve seen all year, and when we do that our D are able to step up and can control the gap situation and turn back on teams. So, it seemed like we were just wearing them down shift after shift.”
- Colorado LW Andrew Cogliano Saturday night’s game versus Arizona
