Avalanche at Flyers preview

AVALANCHE (5-1-2) at FLYERS (4-4-0)
7 p.m. ET; SN, TVAS, NBCSP, ALT, NHL.TV

MacKinnon (eight goals, six assists) and Rantanen (two goals, 12 assists) can become the first Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques teammates with concurrent nine-game, season-opening point streaks; Joe Sakic and Anton Stastny each had a point in eight straight to open the 1988-89 season. They'll also try to become the sixth and seventh Avalanche/Nordiques players with at least a point in nine straight games to start a season, joining Mats Sundin (30 games, 1992-93), Peter Stastny (16 games, 1987-88), Sakic (12 games, 1988-89), Wendel Clark (10 games, 1994-95) and John-Michael Liles (nine games, 2010-11).
The Flyers will try to win consecutive games for the first time this season. They've alternated wins and losses in their past six games after a 5-2 victory against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.

Players to watch

Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog has six goals in his past three games and eight points (six goals, two assists) during a four-game point streak.
Flyers forward Claude Giroux has five points (two goals, three assists) during a three-game point streak.

They said it

"I don't think we're wondering what we're going to do with the puck, which is nice. It's rare to have chemistry like that. My first four, five years in the League I'd have different linemates a lot and you couldn't really connect and jell. It's nice they leave us alone and we manage to find some success." -- Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon on his line with Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen
"He's such a dynamic and dominant player ... He's a bull out there as well. He's a powerful player. Not just speed coming at you, there's speed, there's quickness that comes with that, and the power of his game adds another element." -- Flyers coach Dave Hakstol on Nathan MacKinnon

Avalanche projected lineup

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

Flyers projected lineup

Claude Giroux -- Sean Couturier -- Wayne Simmonds
Scott Laughton -- Nolan Patrick -- Jakub Voracek
Oskar Lindblom -- Jordan Weal -- Travis Konecny
Michael Raffl -- Jori Lehtera -- Dale Weise
Ivan Provorov -- Robert Hagg
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Christian Folin
Travis Sanheim -- Radko Gudas
Brian Elliott
Calvin Pickard
Scratched:Andrew MacDonald, Mikhail Vorobyev, Corban Knight
Injured: Michal Neuvirth (lower body), James van Riemsdyk (lower body)

Status report

The Avalanche, heading into the final game of a four-game road trip, held an optional morning skate. … Dano will make his season debut. He was claimed on waivers from the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 15. ... Landeskog was named NHL First Star of the Week. ... Neuvirth was a full participant during the morning skate but is not ready to play. He has been out since Sept. 21.

Stat pack

Rantanen leads the NHL with 12 assists. ... Simmonds has three goals in his past three games.