Vancouver Canucks (21-44-8) @ Colorado Avalanche (49-14-10)
6:30 p.m. MT | Ball Arena | Watch: Altitude, Altitude+ | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)
The Avalanche begins its April slate of games with a contest against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday. This game is a part of the Avalanche’s Heritage Series, as the team will don its Quebec Nordiques Heritage uniforms. Wednesday’s contest is the third and final regular-season meeting between the teams, as the Avs won 5-4 in overtime in Vancouver on November 9th and 3-1 in Denver on December 2nd.
Latest Result (COL): CGY 2, COL 9
Latest Result (VAN): VAN 2, VGK 4
An Avalanche of Goals
Nazem Kadri scored two of Colorado’s nine goals on Monday as the Avalanche defeated the Calgary Flames 9-2 at Ball Arena. Colorado received goals from eight different players while nine Avs posted multi-point games. In net for the Colorado, Scott Wedgewood stopped 27 of the 29 shots he faced. Drury opened the scoring for the Avs at 2:31 of the first period with his career-high 10th goal of the season via a bank shot from below the left goal line off Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf. The Avalanche took a 2-0 lead on a five-on-three power play at 6:31 of the first period when Kadri scored his 15th goal of the season via a shot from below the right circle set up by Martin Necas’ cross-crease feed. Kadri gave the Avs a 3-0 lead on the power play at 7:37 of the first period with his second goal of the game and 16th of the season via a shot from the bottom of the right circle. Colorado took a 4-0 lead at 9:19 of the first period when Landeskog scored his 11th goal of the season via a backhand shot from the doorstep off the rush set up by Brock Nelson’s feed. Parker Kelly made it 5-0 at 15:50 of the first period with his 18th goal of the season via a net-front redirect on Cale Makar’s left-point shot.
Brennan Othmann put the Flames on the board at 3:37 of the second period with a goal from the doorstep. The Avs took a 6-1 lead on the power play at 19:25 of the middle frame when Nathan MacKinnon scored his 49th goal of the season via a left-circle one-timer. Necas gave the Avs a 7-1 lead at 6:24 of the third period with his 35th goal of the season via a snapshot from the right slot set up by MacKinnon’s low-to-high feed. Colorado made it an 8-1 game at 8:10 of the third period when Sam Malinski scored his fifth goal of the season via a backhand shot from the doorstep off the rush set up by Kelly’s feed. Calgary’s Ryan Strome made it 8-2 with a goal from the doorstep at 12:53 of the third period. Artturi Lehkonen gave the Avs a 9-2 lead at 16:48 of the third period with his 20th goal of the season via a shot from the doorstep, capitalizing on a rebound off the rush.
Leading the Way
Nate the Great
MacKinnon leads the NHL in goals (49) while ranking third in points (120) and assists (71).
All Hail Cale
Among NHL defensemen, Makar ranks third in points (75), tied for fourth in goals (20) and fifth in assists (55).
Marty Party
Necas ranks tied for seventh in the NHL in points (92).
Series History
In 180 previous regular-season games against the Canucks, the Avalanche/Nordiques franchise has a record of 84-70-15-11. The franchises have met twice in the playoffs, with the Avs winning the 1996 Western Conference Quarterfinal in six games and the 2001 Western Conference Quartefinal in four contests.
Monday in Vegas
The Canucks lost 4-2 to the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Monday. Vancouver’s Evander Kane scored the lone first-period goal at 12:19. Vegas’ Rasmus Andersson tied the game at 7:48 of the second period before Brock Boeser gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead on the power play at 12:17 of the middle frame. The Golden Knights took a 3-2 second-period lead after goals from Shea Theodore at 17:17 and Reilly Smith at 18:34. Cole Smith gave Vegas a 4-2 lead at 18:50 of the third period with an empty-net goal.
Contributing Offense Against the Canucks
MacKinnon has posted 36 points (13g/23a) in 30 games against the Canucks.
In 14 contests against Vancouver, Makar has registered 18 points (3g/15a).
Nelson has recorded 19 points (11g/8a) in 24 games against the Canucks.
Canucks’ Scorers
Elias Pettersson leads the Canucks in points (46) while ranking second in assists (31) and fourth in goals (15).
Boeser leads the Canucks in goals (18) while ranking third in points (39) and assists (21).
Filip Hronek leads the Canucks in assists (34) and ranks second on the team in points (42).
A Numbers Game
4.5
Colorado’s 4.5 goals per game since March 20th lead the NHL.
24
Necas’ 24 points (10g/14a) in March were tied for the second most in the NHL.
120
Since the start of the 2000-01 campaign, MacKinnon is the fourth player to record multiple seasons of at least 120 points, joining Connor McDavid (4), Nikita Kucherov (4) and Jaromir Jagr (2).
Quote That Left a Mark
“I think a guy like Sam Malinski, he’s just using his legs a lot right now. Easy breakouts when you’re on the ice with him. He can kind of be a one-man breakout and feed us with a lot of speed to go create offensive zone stuff. And it’s probably not flashy, but Kivy’s (Joel Kiviranta) game is just so rock solid and I could say the same about Jack (Drury) too. I think those three guys might get overlooked sometimes, but they’re always going to do it the right way. We’re very lucky to have a lot of guys who probably aren’t going to be on the scoresheet every night, or maybe not producing well, but they’re always going to do the right things. So, we’re really lucky to have guys like that.”
-- Parker Kelly on the play of his teammates in Monday’s win against the Calgary Flames
