Avs Open Back-to-Back Set at Coyotes on Monday

Following a franchise-long, nine-game homestand, the Colorado Avalanche visits the Arizona Coyotes for the first contest of a back-to-back set on Monday.
Colorado (19-8-2) earned its sixth straight win by defeating the Minnesota Wild 6-0 on Saturday, ending its 16-day home stretch with a 7-1-1 record. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer registered his league-leading fifth shutout of the campaign as he stopped all 31 shots he faced. Cale Makar notched his first game-winning goal of the season and added on an assist, while Nathan MacKinnon (three assists), Gabriel Landeskog (one goal, two assists), Joonas Donskoi (two assists) and Ryan Graves (two assists) all finished with multiple points.

Arizona (13-13-5) is coming off of a 5-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday, as Derick Brassard tallied his first-career, regular-season hat trick. Netminder Antti Raanta stopped 27-of-28 in his fifth win of the campaign while Jakob Chychrun registered his 100th career point with a goal and an assist and Phil Kessel collected his 500th assist in the NHL.

Avalanche at Arizona Coyotes

Gila River Arena | Glendale, Ariz.
| Game Time: | 8:00 p.m. | | --- | --- | | TV: | Altitude (blackouts apply), Fox Sports-Arizona (ARI), ESPN+ | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, FM 92.5 (KKSE) | | Live Streams: | AltitudeNow.com, ESPN+, Official app (blackouts apply to all) | | Online Audio: | Listen Live Here | | Follow: | @Avalanche, Official app, Gamecenter |

COLORADO-ARIZONA CONNECTIONS

Arizona's Derick Brassard finished the 2018-19 season with the Avalanche… Arizona head coach Rick Tocchet was an assistant coach for Colorado from 2002-2004.

HISTORY

Colorado owns a 3-1-0 mark over the Coyotes this season after winning both games of a back-to-back on Feb. 26-27 and splitting a two-game set on March 8-10. The Avalanche has won seven out of the last 10 matchups versus Arizona and three out of five at Gila River Arena. Mikko Rantanen (one goal, four assists) and Andre Burakovsky (two goals, three assists) lead the squad in scoring when facing the Coyotes this season, while Nazem Kadri (two goals, two assists) and Samuel Girard (four assists) are tied for second in offensive production. Philipp Grubauer is 4-1-0 versus the club in an Avalanche sweater, with a .914 save percentage and 2.32 goals-against average.
The Avs earned their 50th victory versus Arizona in the last matchup between the clubs, as Colorado improved to 50-31-10 all time against Arizona (since 1995-96), while boasting a 25-17-4 mark on the road. Monday's meeting is the fifth of an eight-game season series between the clubs and the third of four at Gila River Arena.

ROSTER REPORT

J.T. Compher returned to the lineup on Saturday after missing seven straight contests with an upper-body injury. The Avs acquired goaltender Jonas Johansson from the Buffalo Sabres in an exchange for a sixth-round pick on Saturday. He holds a 0-5-1 record this season with a .884 save percentage and 3.79 goals-against average.

INJURY UPDATE

Defenseman Conor Timmins is out with an upper-body ailment, while Pavel Francouz (lower body) and Erik Johnson (upper body) are both out long term with injuries.

SCOUTING THE COYOTES

Arizona holds a 13-13-5 mark through 31 games this season, with a 6-6-2 record at Gila River Arena, possessing the sixth spot in the West Division. In 46 all-time contests at home versus the Avalanche, the Coyotes own a 19-20-7 record, registering 2.87 goals per game, a 17.0 power-play percentage and 81.2 penalty-kill percentage.
Arizona sports the seventh-best man-down unit in the league, extinguishing 83.8 percent of its penalties. On the other hand, the squad's man-advantage unit ranks 24th in the NHL at home, converting on 16.1 percent of its power-play opportunities.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: CLAYTON KELLER

Clayton Keller has scored a goal in two consecutive games for the fourth time this season, while ranking second on the Coyotes with 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists). He leads the team in goals and is tied for second in assists and power-play points (six). All time, the forward has compiled 64 markers and 117 helpers in 268 games with the Yotes.
In 12 meetings against Colorado, Keller has recorded one goal and eight assists. His four points (one goal, three assists) this season against the Avs are the most on the team as he has collected at least a point in three straight games.

NUMBERS GAME

3

Philipp Grubauer's five shutouts this year are tied for the third most by an Avalanche netminder in a campaign since 1995-96. Grubauer has 16 career shutouts and 10 as a member of the Avs, surpassing Peter Budaj (nine) to take sole possession of fourth place in franchise history in shutouts.

5+5+4+4

Nathan MacKinnon extended his point streak to a season-best five games (tied) on Saturday and Mikko Rantanen lengthened his streak to five contests as well. Gabriel Landeskog recorded at least a point for the fourth straight matchup, his season-long streak. Joonas Donskoi also had two assists to extend his point streak to four games (two goals, four assists).

87.6

Colorado's man-down unit ranks second in the NHL, killing 87.6 percent of its penalties this campaign. Over the last six contests, the club has fought off 19-of-20 power-plays against.

NOTEBOOK

Monday's game opens the fifth back-to-back set of the season for the Avs and the second in Glendale. Colorado swept a back-to-back at Arizona in late February… The Avs sport a 7-4-1 mark on the road this season. The team's .625-points percentage away from home ranks tied for 10th in the league… Colorado has won a season-best six consecutive games, the longest active winning streak in the NHL… Colorado is 4-1-0 in its last five road outings ... Devon Toews scored his fifth goal of the season on Saturday and is tied with Samuel Girard for the team lead in goals among defensemen. Toews' 17 points rank second on the club for D-men behind Girard (22)… Toews has finished with a positive plus-minus for a season-long six consecutive games and his rating and is team-best plus-17 this season, which is third among NHL blueliners… The Avalanche has scored four or more goals in four straight games, a season-long stretch of finding the back of net at least four times.