DALLAS STARS (35-16-8) AT COLORADO AVALANCHE (35-19-5)
7:30 PM MDT | BALL ARENA | WATCH: ESPN+ and HULU | LISTEN: 92.5 FM
The Avalanche welcome the Stars to Ball Arena on Tuesday night. Colorado has collected points three of their past four contests (2-1-1). The two clubs sit four points apart with Dallas pacing the Central Division with 79 points while Colorado has recorded 75 points. Both teams rank in the top four of the Western Conference standings by points (Dallas-second, Colorado-fourth). The Stars have dropped five of their past six contests.
Latest Results:
February 24, 2024 TOR: 4 COL: 3
February 26, 2024 NYI: 3 DAL: 2 (OT)
AVALANCHE vs MAPLE LEAFS 2.24.24.2024 RECAP
The Avalanche were bested by the Maple Leafs 4-3 on Saturday night at Ball Arena. It was only the sixth home loss for the Avalanche this campaign. Colorado kicked off the scoring with Artturi Lehkonen (power play) and Andrew Cogliano finding the back of the net in the first period. The Leafs cut the lead in half on the power play when Tyler Bertuzzi scored his first of three on the night. Toronto struck twice in the second period to take a 3-2 lead going into the final frame, with tallies from Bertuzzi and Mitch Marner. With 15:19 remaining in the final frame Mikko Rantanen evened the score at three. Bertuzzi completed his hat trick on the power play with just under three minutes left to secure the win for Toronto.
AVS ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Nathan MacKinnon recorded three assists to extend his home point streak to 28 games to kick off the season. The 28-game home point streak is tied for the sixth-longest in NHL history regardless of start date. MacKinnon’s 62 assists marks the sixth time in franchise history a skater reached 60 helpers within his first 59 games of a season, following Peter Stastny in 1981-82 and 1985-86, Peter Forsberg in 1995-96 and 2002-03 and MacKinnon last season.
Saturday marked MacKinnon’s 30th multi-point game of 2023-24. 2022-23 (36) is the only other season MacKinnon registered at least 30 multi-point games.
The centerman also paces the NHL in multi-assist games with 18. 2023-24 is the second time in MacKinnon’s career he’s reached the 60-assist benchmark (2022-23). Since the franchise relocated to Denver, Peter Forsberg (5x) and Joe Sakic (3x) are the only skaters to turn in multiple 60-assist campaigns.
Rantanen tallied a goal and an assist to reach the 30-goal mark this season. The goal was the 250th goal of his career. He has now recorded five career 30-goal seasons, tying Milan Hejduk for the fifth-most in Avalanche/Nordiques history.
The Finnish winger has recorded his last four 30-goal seasons in consecutive fashion. That’s the most in Avalanche history. Michel Goulet (eight straight) and Peter Stastny (six straight) are the only skaters with more during the Nordiques era.
Cale Makar chipped in an assist to bring him to 61 (13g/48a) points on the season, ranking second (Quinn Hughes) among all NHL blueliners. It was his 307th career point, tying Tyson Barrie for the most points in franchise history among defensemen.
Lehkonen played in his 500th career game and scored his eighth goal of the season.
Bowen Byram registered an assist to get to the 20-point threshold (8g/12a). Colorado has three blueliners at or above that benchmark (Makar, Devon Toews).
HISTORY
The Avalanche/Nordiques own a 75-56-12-11 all-time record against the Stars/North Stars, with a 44-19-7-6 mark at home. Colorado has won its past three matchups with Dallas by a combined score of 16-9. That includes the first two meetings this season, both at the American Airlines Center. Colorado won the first meeting 6-3 on November 18 and the second matchup 5-4 (OT) on January 4. The last time the Avalanche beat the Stars four straight times was Feb. 14, 2015- Jan. 23, 2016.
KNOCKED BY NEW YORK
The Stars were defeated by the Islanders 3-2 in overtime last night on home ice. The back-and-forth game featured two ties and zero lead changes in regulation. New York kicked off the scoring when Ryan Pulock found the back of the net in the first period. Matt Duchene evened the game in the middle frame on the power play. The Isles retook the lead when Kyle MacLean tallied his second goal of the campaign. Dallas leveled the game at two when Logan Stankoven scored his first career goal. With both teams having secured a point, Bo Horvat came through for New York by potting the game-winning goal in overtime for the Isles.
STATS TO KNOW
Makar leads the Avalanche with four points (0g/4a) in the two meetings with Dallas this season.
Rantanen and MacKinnon pace the Avs’ with two goals apiece against the Stars in the 2023-24 season series. MacKinnon scored the overtime goal in the last game against the Stars on January 4.
Alexandar Georgiev is 5-2-0 in seven career starts against Dallas. He has recorded a .910 SV% and a 2.74 GAA in those matchups.
SUPER-STARS
Roope Hintz and former-Avalanche Matt Duchene pace the Stars with 23 goals each this campaign.
Wyatt Johnson has recorded the most goals of any member of the 2021 NHL Draft class with 43.
Jake Oettinger ranks eighth in wins among all NHL netminders this season with 21. He is expected to get the start for Dallas tonight.
NUMBERS GAME
28
Makar leads all NHL defenseman with 28 power play points (5g/23a) this season.
4
MacKinnon enters tonight with 96 points (34g/62a) in 59 games played. If he can register four points tonight, he’d join Peter Stastny (1981-82) as the only players in Avalanche/Nordiques history to crack 100 points within his first 60 games of a season. The centerman has four games of four-plus points in 2023-24.
11
Additionally, MacKinnon is currently on a six-game point streak, collecting 11 points (2g/9a) during this stretch.
QUOTE(S) THAT LEFT A MARK
“I don’t really keep track, it’s kind of cool to accomplish that. It took a while to get there but its good and hopefully I surpass him at some point soon.”
- Colorado D Cale Makar on tying Tyson Barrie for the most points in franchise history
