Flames at Avalanche preview

FLAMES (2-2-0) at AVALANCHE (3-1-0)
10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN1, CITY, ALT, NHL.TV

He has a goal in each of the first four games; the record of five games was set by the Nordiques forward Mats Sundin in 1992-93. MacKinnon has 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 13 games against Calgary.
Goalie David Rittich will make his first start of the season for the Flames, who conclude a three-game road trip. Calgary is 1-1-0 on the trip.
Rittich made eight saves in the third period Thursday in relief of Mike Smith, who allowed five goals on 24 shots in a 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues.

Players to watch

Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk has seven points (one goal, six assists) in a four-game point streak. Four assists came on power plays.
Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen has seven points (one goal, six assists) in a four-game assist streak.

They said it

"We've got good depth, but we've got to play hard. Obviously, we weren't excited about our effort the other night. When you have an effort like that and you have the luxury of making some lineup changes, you usually do." -- Flames coach Bill Peters, on replacing forwards Michael Frolik and Anthony Peluso with Garnet Hathaway and Mark Jankowski
"We've got to maintain home ice to make an impact in the standings. If we can take care of these home games, it's going to make a big difference on the road. Things are going well for us right now and it's a lot of fun to play every night." -- Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Elias Lindholm
Matthew Tkachuk -- Mikael Backlund -- Austin Czarnik
Sam Bennett -- Dillon Dube -- James Neal
Derek Ryan - Mark Jankowski - Garnet Hathaway
Mark Giordano -- TJ Brodie
Juuso Valimaki -- Michael Stone
Noah Hanifin -- Rasmus Andersson
David Rittich
Mike Smith
Scratched: Michael Frolik, Anthony Peluso, Dalton Prout
Injured: Travis Hamonic (facial fracture)

Avalanche projected lineup

Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Alex Kerfoot -- Tyson Jost -- Colin Wilson
Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Gabriel Bourque
Vladislav Kamenev -- J.T. Compher -- Matt Calvert
Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson
Ian Cole -- Tyson Barrie
Nikita Zadorov -- Patrik Nemeth
Semyon Varlamov
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched:Mark Barberio
Injured: Sven Andrighetto (leg)

Status report

Andrighetto skated Saturday while wearing a non-contact jersey and could join the Avalanche next week on the road.

Stat pack

Gaudreau needs two goals for 200 in his NHL career … Colorado has scored a power-play goal in each of the first four games for the first time since 2009-10.