Dallas Stars (42-21-2) @ Colorado Avalanche (40-24-3)
1:30 p.m. MT | Ball Arena | Watch: Altitude, Altitude+, TNT, TruTV, Max | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)
After picking up three of four points on their road trip, the Avalanche face the Dallas Stars in the rubber match of their three-game season series.
Latest Result (COL): COL 4, CGY 2
Latest Result (DAL): DAL 1, WPG 4
Two Points on The Road
The Avalanche defeated the Calgary Flames 4-2 at Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday. Parker Kelly scored his sixth and seventh goals of the season while Ross Colton added two assists. In net for Colorado, Scott Wedgewood stopped 22 of the 24 shots he faced. At 13:21 of the opening frame, Ryan Lindgren scored his first goal as an Av and third of the season with a wrist shot from the point. Kelly doubled the lead with a breakaway goal set up by Logan O’Connor at 15:24 of the second period. That goal featured a connection of Alberta natives as O’Connor assisted Kelly. At 3:08 of the third period, Blake Coleman put the Flames on the board from the left doorstep. Kelly regained Colorado’s two-goal lead at 5:55 of the third with a shot from the low slot set up by Colton. The Flames pulled within one with a Jonathan Huberdeau power-play goal at 16:22 via a net-front deflection. Valeri Nichushkin put the Avs up 4-2 with his 16th goal of the season via an empty-net tally from his own zone at 18:21 of the third period.
Leading the Way
Nate the Great
Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL in points (102) and assists (75).
All Hail Cale
Cale Makar leads NHL defensemen in points (75), goals (24) and assists (51). Among all NHL skaters, he’s tied for seventh in assists and 10th in points.
A Marty Party
Martin Necas is tied for 10th in the NHL in assists (50).
History
In 113 previous regular-season games against the Stars, the Avalanche are 54-40-19. Both teams defended home ice in their previous meetings this season, as the Stars won 5-3 on November 29th in Dallas and the Avs won 6-3 on January 18th in Denver.
A Joust with the Jets
The Stars lost 4-1 to the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre on Friday. The Jets took a 2-0 lead in the first period courtesy of goals from Dylan Samberg at 8:01 and Kyle Connor at 17:02. In the second period, Connor gave the Jets a 3-0 lead with a goal at 6:43. Morgan Barron gave the Jets a 4-0 lead at 7:26 of the third period before Dallas’ Mason Marchment scored at 16:11.
Scoring Against the Stars
MacKinnon has posted 44 points (17g/27a) in 43 regular-season games in addition to 18 points (7g/11a) in 14 playoff games.
In 17 regular-season games against Dallas, Makar has recorded 17 points (4g/13a) as well as 15 points (6g/9a) in 14 playoff games.
Brock Nelson has registered 15 points (7g/8a) in 22 regular-season games against Dallas.
Dallas’ Stars
Mikko Rantanen leads the Stars in points (73), goals (29) and assists (44).
Jason Robertson is second on the Stars in goals (28), tied for second in points (66) and tied for third in assists (38).
Matt Duchene is second on the team in assists (41), tied for second in points (66) and tied for third in goals (25).
A Numbers Game
26
The Avalanche’s 26 goals in March are tied for the fourth most in the NHL.
2.00
The Avalanche have allowed 2.00 goals per game since the start of February, which is the third fewest in the NHL during that span.
33.3%
Colorado’s 33.3% power play since January 25th is the second best in the league in that span.
Quote That Left a Mark
"I thought the Drury line and the Coyle line were outstanding tonight. I thought both lines did a great job playing in the offensive zone, they were hard to play against, bringing pucks to the net down low [and] forechecking hard. They obviously got rewarded for their work. That's a big reason for our success tonight."
-- Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar on the team’s depth forwards on Friday
