COLORADO AVALANCHE (32-16-4) AT FLORIDA PANTHERS (32-15-4)
4:00 PM MDT | AMERANT BANK ARENA | WATCH: ALTITUDE TV| LISTEN: 92.5 FM
This Saturday night at Amerant Bank Arena, the Avalanche will conclude their season series against the Panthers. Coming into this matchup, Florida has secured victories in five of its last six games, with a home record of 14-8-2 this season. Colorado has dropped its last three road games, holding an away record of 12-11-4.
Latest Results:
February 8, 2024 CAR: 5 COL: 2
February 8, 2024 FLA: 4 WSH: 2
CAUGHT IN THE HURRICANE
On Thursday evening at PNC Arena, Colorado was defeated by the Hurricanes with a score of 5-2. This game marked the end of their season series, with both teams finishing with a record of 1-1-0.
COLORADO AVALANCHE vs CAROLINA HURRICANES 2.8.2024 RECAP
Martin Necas initiated the scoring with a natural hat trick, scoring three goals on the team’s initial five shots. With 27 seconds remaining in the first period, Zach Parise hit the back of the net to get the Avalanche on the board. Five seconds later, Girard fired a shot from outside the blue line, bringing it to 3-2. At the midpoint of the second period, Michael Bunting netted a power-play goal from the slot. The Hurricanes secured the win after they were awarded a goal due to a penalty for a foul on an empty-net breakaway off a Mikko Rantanen slashing penalty on Seth Jarvis’ attempt.
AVS ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Samuel Girard tallied two points (1g/1a) in Thursday's matchup against the Hurricanes. This marked Girard's 35th game with multiple points, equaling Devon Toews for the 10th-most by a defenseman in the history of the Avalanche/Nordiques franchise.
Zach Parise scored his first goal for the Avalanche, marking his first since netting one on March 27, 2023 while playing for the New York Islanders.
Girard and Parise broke a franchise record by scoring five seconds apart, marking the quickest sequence of two goals in Avalanche/Nordiques history.
Logan O'Connor contributed an assist on Parise's goal, reaching a total of 25 points (13g/12a) for the 2023-24 season. Tonight, he has the chance to tie his career-high in points, set in the 2022-23 season.
Cale Makar saw his point streak come to an end on Thursday but it matched his season-high set between November 7 and 22. He currently holds the second rank in the league for the highest number of goals, at 13, among all defensemen.
HISTORY
The Avalanche and the Panthers have faced off in a total of 48 contests, with the Avalanche posting a record of 27-13-3-5. When playing away against Florida, they stand at 17-5-0-2. In their latest 10 encounters with the Panthers, the Avalanche have notched a 5-5-0 clip. The most recent contest between the two this season unfolded on January 6 at Ball Arena, resulting in an 8-4 defeat for the Avalanche.
WIPING OUT WASHINGTON
Thursday night the Florida Panthers and Washington Capitals faced off, resulting in a 4-2 victory for the Panthers. Alexander Ovechkin led the scoring in the first period, executing a one-timer from the top of the circle. Matthew Tkachuk opened the second with a deflection past Darcy Kuemper. Anthony Mantha added to the tally with a backhand tip off the rush. Sam Reinhart registered the equalizer for the Panthers, bringing the score to 2-2 with a power-play goal. In the final frame, Ryan Lomberg found the back of the net with a one-timer following a centering pass from Dimitry Kulikov. Eetu Luostarinen secured the game for Florida with an empty-netter, 4-2.
STATS TO KNOW
Mikko Rantanen has accumulated at least one point in his last five encounters with the Panthers, tallying a total of 10 points (2g/8a) during that stretch.
Bowen Byram logged 23:13 of ice time in his last matchup against the Panthers on February 11, 2023.
Eight different players found the scoresheet in the Avalanche’s last matchup against the Panthers on Jan 6.
Colorado has an average of 3.83 away goals per game all-time against the Panthers.
PANTHERS PERFORMANCE
Sam Reinhart leads the league in power-play goals at 21 in 51 games. He also ranks second in the NHL for goal scoring, netting 38, trailing Auston Matthews who leads with 41.
Reinhart paces the Panthers with 63 points (38g/25a) in 51 games.
Sergei Bobrovsky ranks 11th among all netminders in goals against average, conceding 2.47 goals per game.
Florida is tied for fourth in points throughout the league for the current season, amassing a total of 68 points, a tally matched by the Avalanche.
NUMBERS GAME
16
Ross Colton holds the third-highest team record in the league when registering a point. His scoring has led to 16 victories this season, with the teams record standing at 16-1-3 in games where he has contributed a point.
1157
Jack Johnson tied Kevin Hatcher and Eric Weinrich for the seventh-highest number of games played by an American-born defenseman in NHL history, each accumulating 1,157 games.
200
Joel Kiviranta skated in his 200th career NHL game on Thursday, with 37 of those appearances being in an Avalanche jersey.
106
On Thursday, Georgiev surpassed Craig Anderson to claim the 11th spot for the most games played by a goaltender in Avalanche history with 105. Next on the list is Philipp Grubauer’s 113 games played.
QUOTE(S) THAT LEFT A MARK
“Certainly, there’s things we could have done all (three games), but isolated mistakes tonight cost us. The effort and competitiveness in our game is what I’ve been wanting to see in the last two. It got there tonight. We didn’t have a choice with the way Carolina plays, but I thought our guys played hard, no question.”
- Colorado Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar on Thursday’s matchup against Carolina
