2. MEETING THE METRO
Through the Avs first eight games, they have faced five Metropolitan Division opponents (3-1-1)... The Avs also close out an eight-day, four-game road trip in which they have earned points in each of the first three games, including wins in the last two outings... Colorado has just one regulation loss this season, going 5-1-2, and have a five-game point streak going at 3-0-2... The Avs top line has driven most of the offense for Colorado: Gabriel Landeskog (7g-3a) - Nathan MacKinnon (8g-6a) - Mikko Rantanen (2g-12a) have combined for 17 of the team's 29 goals (58.6%) and a total of 38 points.
3. WE'RE GOING STREAKING
Avs forwards Mikko Rantanen (2g-12a) and Nathan MacKinnon (8g-6a) each have an eight-game point streak entering tonight having recorded points in every game so far this season... Rantanen has also recorded an assist in all eight games, while MacKinnon has recorded at least a goal in seven of the eight games - the pair are tied for second in the NHL's scoring race... Travis Konecny (2g-2a) and Claude Giroux (2g-3a) each have three game point streaks, while Giroux has recorded at least a point in seven of eight games, including an assist in six of the eight.
4. FEELING SPECIAL
Colorado has scored a power-play goal in seven of their first eight games, but have also given up plenty of power-play opportunities this season - they have given up five power plays or more to the opposition in their last six games, and at least three opportunities in all eight games so far... Despite that, they own the third-best penalty kill in the NHL at 89.7%, allowing just four PPG's on 39 times shorthanded... The Flyers have scored on the man advantage in every game that they have had three or more opportunities... Claude Giroux leads the Flyers with five points on the power-play, which ranks sixth in the NHL... Since the 2011-12 season, Giroux leads all players in the NHL for the most power-play assists (178), while leading all players since 2008-09 in power-play points (272).
5. PLAYERS TO WATCH:
FLYERS (D: #9 - Ivan Provorov)
Provorov has points in two straight games, with three assists, and is a +2... He has the same amount of shots in the last two games (5), than he did in his first six games combined (5)... He has yet to play less than 22 minutes in a game so far this season, averaging 24:31 to lead the Flyers, which has included three games of 26 or more minutes - one of which came in the first meeting against the Avs where he logged 26:56 of TOI.
AVALANCHE (LW: #92 - Gabriel Landeskog)
The Avs captain has been on a goal-scoring tear lately - he has goals in three straight games where he has produced six goals in that stretch, including a hat trick and a two-goal effort in his last game, a 3-1 win at Carolina... Three of his seven goals on the year have been game-winning goals, which leads the NHL... Landeskog also paces all players in plus-minus this season with a +10 rating in eight games... Against the Flyers, Landeskog broke a 2-2 tie in the first meeting for the game-winner.
