Game Preview: Avalanche at Canucks

COLORADO AVALANCHE (23-17-3) AT VANCOUVER CANUCKS (18-23-3)
8:00 PM MT | ROGERS ARENAWATCH:ALTITUDELISTEN: 92.5FM/950 AM
The Colorado Avalanche will take on the Vancouver Canucks for the final meeting this season. Vancouver has bested Colorado in the teams' first two matchups this season - 4-3 on November 23 and 4-2 on January 5. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. MT inside of Rogers Arena.

LAST TIME OUT

The Avalanche defeated the Calgary Flames 4-1 to kick off their three-game road trip on Wednesday. Forwards Artturi Lehkonen and Mikko Rantanen each scored two goals apiece. Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced.
The Canucks fell to last year's runner up, the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-2, also on Wednesday. Defenseman Quinn Hughes and forward Andrei Kuzmenko each scored for Vancouver. Goaltender Spencer Martin stopped six of the 10 shots he faced before Collin Delia relieved him, stopping all 14 shots that came his way.

HISTORY

Colorado is now 78-67-26 all-time against Vancouver. Since the franchise relocated to Denver, the team sports identical records at home (31-22-9) and on the road (31-24-9) versus the Canucks.

SCOUTING THE CANUCKS

Center Elias Pettersson leads the Canucks in points with 52 (18G/34A). Center Bo Horvat is second on the team in points with 49 and leads the team in goals with 30.

LINEUP UPDATES

Avalanche
Bowen ByramLower body
Darren HelmLower body
Gabriel Landeskog Lower body
Cale MakarLower body
Denis MalginUpper body
Josh MansonLower body
Canucks
Thatcher DemkoLower body
Travis DermottUnknown
Micheal FerlandUpper body
Tanner PearsonUpper body
Tucker PoolmanUnknown
Jack RathboneUpper body

DOING THE MOST

Center Nathan MacKinnon is the team's active leader in career points against the Canucks, with 23 (8G/15A) in 22 games played. Forward Mikko Rantanen is second with 22 (11G/11A) in 14 contests.

BEHIND ENEMY LINES

There is a three-way tie among active Canucks players for the lead in career points against the Avs - forward Brock Boeser and centers Bo Horvat and Elias Pettersson all have 12 points. Boeser and Horvat have six goals and six assists in 12 and 21 games played, while Pettersson has two goals and 10 assists in 10 games played.

STATS FOR KEEPS

Name | GP | GS | Record (W-L-OT) | GAA
Colorado
Pavel Francouz | 12 | 12 | 6-6-0 | 2.61
Alexandar Georgiev | 31 | 31 | 17-11-3 | 2.69
Vancouver
Collin Delia | 8 | 6 | 4-2-0 | 3.06
Spencer Martin | 25 | 23 | 11-11-1 | 3.89
Thatcher Demko | 15 | 15 | 3-10-2 | 3.93

NUMBERS GAME

500

The Avalanche earned their 500th regular season road win Wednesday night since moving to Denver prior to the 1995-96 season.

30 and counting

Mikko Rantanen scored two goals in the team's win over Calgary to reach 31 tallies this season. Reaching 30 goals in his 43rd game, Rantanen is the fastest player in Avalanche history to reach the 30-goal mark in a season. The previous record was held by Joe Sakic, who scored 30 goals in 44 contests in 1995-96.

30 and counting, part two

Rantanen reached the 30-goal mark for the fourth time in his career and for a third straight season, equaling the longest streak in Colorado history and tied for the third longest in franchise history.
CONSECUTIVE 30-GOAL SEASONS, FRANCHISE HISTORY
8 Michel Goulet (1980-88)
6 Peter Stastny (1980-86)
3 Mikko Rantanen (2020-23)
3 Nathan MacKinnon (2017-20)
3 Joe Sakic (2003-07)
3 Mats Sundin (1991-94)

900

Erik Johnson played in his 900th NHL game on Wednesday, becoming the 29th American-born defenseman in NHL history to appear in 900 regular-season contests. He is the sixth defenseman drafted No. 1 overall to play 900 games, joining Roman Hamrlik (1992 - 1,395), Chris Phillips (1996 - 1,179), Ed Jovanovski (1994 - 1,128), Denis Potvin (1973 - 1,060) and Rob Ramage (1979 - 1,044). Johnson is also the first defenseman from the 2006 NHL Draft to reach 900 games and the 12th player overall from that draft class to hit 900.
Wednesday's contest was also Johnson's 697th career game as a member of the Avalanche, passing Alain Cote (696) to take over sole possession of seventh place on the franchise's all-time games played list.

QUOTES THAT LEFT A MARK

"He was amazing for us. We would've liked to play in the other end a lot more, but he did a tremendous job when we needed him. Screened pucks and he was making all the saves. He was huge for us tonight. He was definitely our best player." - Forward Logan O'Connor on Georgiev's performance
"The game feels a little different. We're playing so confident and a different game defensively. Playing sharp. We got to keep it going like that." - Goalie Alexandar Georgiev on the team's performance as of late