COLORADO AVALANCHE (24-11-3) AT DALLAS STARS (22-10-4)
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The Avalanche hit the road and for a divisional contest against the Stars. Colorado has won five of their past six games and enter tonight at the top of the Central Division with 51 points. Dallas has won two of their past three games, defeating the Blackhawks on Dec. 29 and 31st – outscoring them 13-5 in those games – but falling to the Canadiens at home last time out Tuesday night at home.
Latest Results:
January 2, 2024 COL: 5 NYI: 4 (OT)
January 2, 2024 MTL: 4 DAL: 3
ICED OVER THE ISLANDERS
The Colorado Avalanche won their 2024 opener against the New York Islanders, securing a 5-4 victory in overtime on Tuesday night at Ball Arena. It concluded the season series between the teams with the Avs posting a 2-0-0 record, the second time in three years Colorado defeated the Islanders in both regular-season meetings.
AVALANCHE vs ISLANDERS 01.02.2024 RECAP
The Avalanche emerged victorious in a high-scoring game by securing their first overtime win of the season when Nathan MacKinnon lit the lamp just 32 seconds into the extra session. The Islanders struck first when Pierre Engvall capitalized on a semi-breakaway, but Devon Toews, former-Islander, evened the score less than a minute later. Brock Nelson regained the lead for the visitors just before the first intermission, and Simon Holmstrom widened the lead to 3-1 just 1:09 into the second period. Valeri Nichushkin and Jonathan Drouin scored a pair of goals early in the second frame to tie things up, but the Isles responded by retaking the lead later on and took a 4-3 lead into the second intermission. Nichushkin netted the equalizer late in the third and almost won the game in regulation by splitting two defensemen and drawing a penalty that carried into overtime. MacKinnon wasted little time securing the extra point for the Avs with a slap shot from the right circle that finished off the comeback effort.
AVS ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Nathan MacKinnon extended his season-opening home point streak to 20-games with an OT goal and two assists. This is the second-longest home-point streak in Avalanche/Nordiques history (Joe Sakic had a 23-game streak in 2000-01).
The centerman was named NHL’s First Star of the Month, and he now ranks second in league scoring overall. He places among the leaders in assists, power play points, shots on goal, as well as goals.
Devon Toews scored a goal on Tuesday night, bringing his point streak to six games, breaking his previous record of five games he picked up in the 2021-22 season.
Cale Makar has 44 points in 33 games, he is on pace to reach over 100 points during the 2023-24 season. This would set an all-time record among defensemen for the Avalanche/Nordiques franchise.
The Avalanche are ranked No. 2 in goals scored throughout the league, just four behind the Canucks in the top spot.
HISTORY
The Avalanche/Nordiques have accumulated a historical record of 74-56-12-11 against the Stars/North Stars. When playing on the road, their record stands at 30-37-5-5. In their most recent five encounters with the Stars, Colorado has emerged victorious in four of them and are 4-3-1 in their last eight away contests overall. Colorado secured a 6-3 win at the American Airlines Center, overcoming a 3-0 deficit by scoring six unanswered on Nov. 18. Cale Makar became the fastest defenseman in NHL history to achieve 200 career assists that night, requiring 254 games.
AVALANCHE STATS TO KNOW
Andrew Cogliano (2018-21), Valeri Nichushkin (2013-19), Fredik Olofsson (2022-23) and Joel Kiviranta (2019-23) have all spent time with the Dallas Stars organization.
Nathan MacKinnon has accumulated 35 points (14g/21a) in 38 games versus the Stars in his career.
In the Stars and Avalanche’s last matchup, Cale Makar recorded three points (0g/3a) in the six-goal game on Nov. 18.
Mikko Rantanen has picked up eight points in his last five games against the Stars.
Jonathan Drouin enters tonight with ten points (3g/7a) in his last ten games.
Alexandar Georgiev has a 4-2-0 record with Colorado against the Stars.
**STARS STATS TO KNOW
**Matt Duchene played his first nine seasons with the Colorado Avalanche, collecting 428 points (178g/250a) in 586 games.
Jason Robertson is the Stars top scorer, with 37 points (12g/25a) in 36 games this season.
Ryan Suter is closing in on 1,400 career NHL games played, holding the record for the most among active American-born players. His teammate Joe Pavelski is right behind him with 1,286 games and ranks second in the same category.
NUMBERS GAME
61
Nathan MacKinnon has recorded 61 points (20g/41a) this season, the second-most in the NHL behind Nikita Kucherov (63).
20
MacKinnon inked his ninth 20-goal season on Tuesday. Valeri Nichushkin and Mikko Rantanen both enter tonight with 19 tallies, giving the Avs a chance to boast a trio of 20-goal scorers at the conclusion of Thursday’s game.
763
Alexandar Georgiev has stopped 763 shots this season, holding the second rank among all NHL netminders.
36
Cale Makar picked up three assists on Tuesday and is tied with Quinn Hughes for the league-lead this season among defensemen with 36.
QUOTE(S) THAT LEFT A MARK
“Pucks are going in and I like my game. Like I said before I’m trending in the right way, and I’m confident in my abilities with this team. Now and it’s just about, you know, keeping going, keep working, and just like our team right now, it’s trusting the process and do the stuff we’re supposed to do and you’ll get rewarded.”
-(Colorado LW) Jonathan Drouin on his ten-game point streak
