The Arizona Coyotes are set to take on the red-hot Colorado Avalanche in a Tuesday night (Feb. 1) matchup at Ball Arena. The game against the Avs, who are fresh off a 15-0-1 January, will begin a back-to-back set of games Arizona has against Colorado and Calgary. Puck drop against the Avalanche is scheduled for 7 p.m.
PACK FACTS
Tuesday is the third of four meetings between the Yotes and Avs this season, as well as the third time in 19 days that they'll will go head-to-head. Colorado captured the first game 4-3 in shootout on Jan. 14 and won the second game 5-0 the next night.
Clayton Keller, Johan Larsson and Shayne Gostisbehere each scored for the Coyotes in the Jan. 14 game while Phil Kessel chipped in two assists. Kessel's 26 career points against the Avalanche leads current Arizona skaters. He's registered 11 points (3-8-11) in 12 career games facing the Avalanche as a Coyote.
Kessel paces Arizona in assists in 2021-22 (23). 20 of his helpers have come since Nov. 13, which is tied for eighth among NHL wingers in that stretch.
Keller and Gostisbehere enter Tuesday with four-game point streaks, both tied for their season-high and the highest total by a Coyote this season. Keller has tallied an assist in each of his last three games and has registered 29 points (13-16-29) in his last 27 games dating back to Nov. 18. The Chesterfield, Mo. native's 10 goals since Dec. 15 is tied for 10th in the NHL.
Gostisbehere scored last time out (Jan. 29) for his eighth goal of the season, tied for seventh among NHL defensemen. The first-year Coyote holds an identical 4-10-14 scoring line in both home and away games, playing one more road contest. Tuesday is Arizona's 15th divisional game this season, which Gostisbehere has tallied 13 points (4-9-13) against those opponents.
The Coyotes franchise is 58-60-12-12 all-time against the Avalanche/Nordiques.
A LOOK AT THE AVALANCHE
Colorado (32-8-3, 67 pts) has won 18 consecutive home games, good for the fifth-longest streak in NHL history. Central Division All-Star Nazem Kadri enters Tuesday tied for third in the League with 59 points (18-41-59), including eight points in his last four games. Just as he did in the previous two Coyotes-Avalanche games, Cale Makar leads all NHL defensemen in goals, this time enters play with 16, while also holding a four-game assist streak. The Avalanche have also won their last 10 games overall.
MILESTONES TO WATCH
Bill Armstrong: One game from 100 career games as NHL General Manager.
Phil Kessel: One multi-assist game from 100 career NHL multi-assist games.
Andrew Ladd: One even-strength goal from 200 career NHL even-strength goals.
Nick Schmaltz: Three points from 200 career NHL points.
Anton Stralman: One even-strength point from 200 career NHL even-strength points.
KEY CONNECTIONS
Ex-Coyotes
• Darcy Kuemper (2017-21)
Ex-Avalanche
• André Tourigny (Assistant Coach, 2013-15)
• Conor Timmins (2019-21)
• Liam O'Brien (2020-21)
Bill Armstrong was an amateur scout for St. Louis when the organization selected Erik Johnson No. 1 overall in 2006.
Travis Boyd played with Andre Burakovsky in Washington from 2017-19.
Shayne Gostisbehere skated with Nicolas Aube-Kubel in Philadelphia from 2018-21.
Phil Kessel represented Team USA with Jack Johnson at the USNTDP (2003-05), 2005-06 World Junior Championships, 2010 Winter Olympic Games and played with him in Pittsburgh (2018-19)…Teammates with Nazem Kadri in Toronto from 2010-15.
Andrew Ladd played with Devon Toews on the Islanders from 2017-19.
Antoine Roussel played with Valeri Nichushkin in Dallas over parts of the 2013-16 seasons.
Cory Stillman won a Stanley Cup as a player with Nolan Pratt in Tampa Bay in 2003-04.
Scott Wedgewood was teammates with Ryan Murray and Mikhail Maltsev in the New Jersey Devils organization in 2020-21.
