Round Robin Preview: Vegas vs. Colorado

As the Vegas Golden Knights gear up for their round robin contests ahead of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the team will set its sights on a victory against the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado won both games played during the regular season in convincing fashion, but with a new set of circumstances, the Golden Knights will look to meet the Avalanche head on.

WHEN WE PRESSED PAUSE…
The Avalanche were dealing with injury issues at the time of the NHL pause as a slew of crucial players were on the shelf. Cale Makar returned to the lineup in the team's final game before the pause, but Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Nazem Kadri, Andre Burakovsky, Matt Calvert, Colin Wilson and Phillipp Grubauer were all out of the lineup.

Colorado was staying afloat despite the injury trouble with a 3-2-1 record in six games in March. In their last game before the pause, Makar put up three assists in a 3-2 overtime win against the New York Rangers.

HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH VEGAS
Vegas and Colorado met twice in the 2019-20 regular season, with the Avalanche winning both contests. Colorado won the first meeting, 6-1, on Oct. 25 as William Karlsson scored the lone goal for Vegas at T-Mobile Arena. The Avalanche returned to Las Vegas on Dec. 23and defeated the Golden Knights, 7-3. Ryan Reaves, Max Pacioretty and William Carrier each scored for the home team in the loss. The two teams had a third and final meeting originally scheduled for March 15 at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

The Avalanche outscored the Golden Knights in the season series, 13-4. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare led Colorado with five points (3 G, 2 A) during the two games against Vegas. During the first matchup on Oct. 25, Bellemare needed only 28 seconds to score against his former team. Reilly Smith was the leading scorer for the Golden Knights with two points (0 G, 2 A). The Avalanche collected the only three power-play goals during the two-game season series.

STATS ON STATS ON STATS
Colorado sits second in both the Central Division and Western Conference with an overall record of 42-20-8. With 92 points during the regular season, the Avalanche finished tied for third in the NHL. With 236 goals-for in 70 games, Colorado ranked third in the NHL in goals and kept their goals-against to 190 which ranked fifth in the league.

Before the regular season came to an abrupt end, MacKinnon was on pace for a career year and led Colorado with 93 points (35 G, 53 A) in 69 games. Rookie defenseman Cale Makar leads the efforts from the blueline, with 50 points (12 G, 38 A) in his first NHL season. Burakovsky was in the midst of the most productive season of his career with 45 points (20G, 25A) in 58 games.

BETWEEN THE PIPES BY MIKE MCKENNA
It's been an interesting season in goal for the Avalanche, where incumbent Philipp Grubauer and 30-year old rookie Pavel Francouz have split time. Grubauer began 2019-20 as the starter, turning in a solid 6-1-2 record during the month of October. However, it wasn't long before an injury sidelined Grubauer, allowing Francouz to take over and win 21 of his 30 starts. Francouz's 13.06 Goals Saved Above Average was 6th best in the NHL, and both his GAA (2.41) and SV% (.923) rank inside the league's top 10. Grubauer kept pace with a .916 SV% and 6.48 GSAA. He was also slightly more consistent: in 36 starts, Grubauer had 4 Really Bad Starts (RBS: games with a SV% below 85%), while Francouz had 5 in 30 games. Both goaltenders have played well against the Golden Knights: Grubauer is 2-2-0 lifetime with a 2.54 GAA and .927 SV%, while Francouz won his only career start against Vegas this past December. He made 29 saves on 32 shots and was named 3rd star of the game.

The 2019-20 season has not been kind to Golden Knights netminders when facing the Avalanche. In two starts, Marc-Andre Fleury allowed 11 goals on 64 shots. And while Robin Lehner went 1-1-0 versus Colorado this season, an .822 SV% in those games is well off his season mark of 92%. Historically, Fleury has been good against the Avalanche, sporting an 11-5-2 career record and .914 SV%. Lehner is 5-5-0 career when facing Colorado.

HARDWARE WATCH
MacKinnon's strong individual performance all season long will earn him a long look for the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player. He had 43 more points than any other member of the Avalanche all while high-scoring forwards Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog missed a combined 44 games.

With 50 points (12G, 38A) in 57 games, Makar is on the shortlist for the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie. He'll likely be in the running with Quinn Hughes (53 points) and Dominik Kubalik (46 points) for the award.

PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE
The current Avalanche roster boasts just three Stanley Cup rings and two of them reside on the hands of defenseman Ian Cole who won back-to-back championships with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017. Phillipp Grubauer was Braden Holtby's backup in Washington when the Capitals won it all in 2018. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Joonas Donskoi are the only other Colorado skaters who have reached the Final, but neither has won the ultimate prize.

Like Dallas, the Avalanche were a win away from reaching the Western Conference Final last season but had their season come to an end in Game 7 of the second round. Colorado hasn't advanced beyond the second round since 2002 when the Avalanche played in their fourth consecutive conference final. Colorado has won the Stanley Cup twice in its history (1996, 2001) since moving to Denver from Quebec City.