AVALANCHE (11-6-4) at COYOTES (9-9-2) 8 p.m. EST; FS-A PLUS, ALT2, NHL.TV
Raanta, who is 5-4-0 with a 2.10 goals-against average and .929 save percentage this season, has missed the past eight games with a lower-body injury. Arizona has lost six of eight (2-4-2) after winning five in a row. Colorado, which has won the first two games of a three-game road trip, is 4-0-1 in its past five games. Entering Friday, Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen (34 points) was No. 1 in the NHL in scoring, and linemate Nathan MacKinnon (31 points) was tied for No. 2 with Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers.
Players to watch
Colorado forward Nathan MacKinnon has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past five games and has a goal in three of his past four games. He has 11 points (one goal, 10 assists) in 14 games against Arizona. Coyotes forward Derek Stepan, who scored twice in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday, has 10 points (six goals, four assists), including two shorthanded goals in 13 games against Colorado.
They said it
"Last year, we didn't believe in ourselves as much (as this season). That's the biggest thing if you want to come back in games. Every game matters. We have to be better, and really good every game."-- Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen "There's a lot of good things we've done. There's some stuff we have to shore up. We need some better play from some individuals. … I think as a player, if you look at the standings, we're close either way. If you lose a bunch you go south and if you win a bunch you get close to the division leaders."-- Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet
Kuemper, who has started the past eight games, will back up Raanta.
Stat pack
Colorado is 7-4-2 on the road. … The Avalanche's power play is 12-for-24 (50 percent) in November and 9-for-13 (69.2 percent) in its past five games. … Keller doesn't have a goal in his past 10 games after scoring five in five games. … The line of Landeskog, MacKinnon and Rantanen line has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in the past two games and 88 points (35 goals, 53 assists) this season. … Barrie has eight points (two goals, six assists) during a six-game point streak. ... Colorado is first in the NHL on the power play (32.9 percent) and Arizona (91.9) is first on the penalty kill. ... The Coyotes lead the League with 10 shorthanded goals.
