Rapid Recap: Avalanche 2, Ducks 0

Jonas Johansson registered his first NHL shutout in the Colorado Avalanche's 2-0 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday at Honda Center.
The Swedish goaltender stopped all 28 shots he faced, including 12 in the second period. Valeri Nichushkin scored his ninth of the year and fourth of the season against the Ducks in the final minutes of the middle frame to break the stalemate at that point. Ryan Graves and Tyson Jost recorded helpers on the marker.
Mikko Rantanen tallied an empty-net goal with 34 seconds left in regulation, and Nathan MacKinnon assisted on the score to extend his point streak to eight games.

The Avalanche concludes its season series with the Ducks on Sunday afternoon in Southern California. Colorado is 5-1-1 against Anaheim through seven matchups.

THE GOALS

1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
17:12 COL (1-0) - Valeri Nichushkin one timed the puck from the slot after getting a pass from Ryan Graves and scored his ninth of the year.
3rd Period
19:26 COL (2-0) - Mikko Rantanen scored into an empty net. Nathan MacKinnon assisted on the tally.
Final: Avalanche - 2 | Ducks - 0

3 STARS

1. Valeri Nichushkin (COL): Scored the game-winner
2. John Gibson (ANA): Stopped 33 shots
3. Jonas Johansson (COL): 28-save shutout

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 0 for 3
Anaheim: 0 for 2

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado:Jonas Johansson stopped all 28 shots to record his first NHL shutout.
Anaheim: John Gibson allowed one goal on 34 shots.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

With the victory, the Avs equaled their best record after 40 games in franchise history (58 points). The Quebec Nordiques registered 58 points through 40 outings in the 1994-95 campaign (27-9-4) and Colorado matched the record in 2000-01 (26-8-6-0).

NOTEBOOK

Jonas Johansson made 28 saves to record his first NHL shutout... Keaton Middleton made his NHL debut and finished the game with one shot and one hit in 10:41 of ice time. He was the 14th blueliner that has played for Colorado this year, the club's most since dressing 16 different D-men in 2010-11… Since the franchise moved to Denver, it is just the third season that the Avs have dressed 14 or more (also 14 in 2008-09)… In seven games against the Ducks this year, Valeri Nichushkin has four goals and two assists... Nathan MacKinnon extended his point streak to eight games (five goals, eight assists) but saw his four-game goal streak come to an end. He has 26 points (10 goals, 16 assists) in his last 16 contests... Colorado is 6-1-0 in its last seven games, 14-1-2 in its last 17 and 18-3-3 in its last 24... The Avs improved to 7-0-0 on Fridays... The Avalanche has scored the first goal of the game 28 times, the most of any team, and is 23-3-2 when scoring first... Colorado is 5-1-1 against Anaheim, with the five wins its most ever against the Ducks in a single season.

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

NHL debut ready.

ROSTER REPORT

Defenseman Keaton Middleton made his NHL debut and was on a pairing with Kyle Burroughs, who was skating in his third game in the league. Goaltender Jonas Johansson made his third start with the Avalanche. Colorado acquired defenseman Patrik Nemeth prior to the game in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings. Peyton Jones, Jayson Megna and Greg Pateryn are on Colorado's taxi squad.

INJURY UPDATE

Bowen Byram, who had missed the seven previous game with an upper-body injury, was added to the NHL's COVID-protocol list on Friday. Logan O'Connor (lower body) and Matt Calvert (upper body) will be out weeks with their ailments. Pavel Francouz (lower body) and Erik Johnson (upper body) are out long term.

UP NEXT

The Avalanche concludes its four-game road trip on Sunday against the Ducks. It is the eighth and final outing that Colorado will play against Anaheim this year. Sunday's contest had its game time moved up to 4 p.m. MT.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
20 Brandon Saad - 91 Nazem Kadri - 95 Andre Burakovsky
13 Valeri Nichushkin - 17 Tyson Jost - 72 Joonas Donskoi
38 Liam O'Brien - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 37 J.T. Compher
Defensemen
49 Samuel Girard - 7 Devon Toews
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
67 Keaton Middleton - 88 Kyle Burroughs
Goaltenders
35 Jonas Johansson
31 Philipp Grubauer