Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid will try to earn the top spot in the points race that is currently held by Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov.
Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid will try to earn the top spot in the points race that is currently held by Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov.
The NHL's powerhouse forwards — Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid — face each other for the second time this season in Edmonton on Friday night.
Colorado is on the second half of a back-to-back after a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild last night. The Oilers were shut out 5-0 by the Dallas Stars on Wednesday.
Nathan MacKinnon had two assists which tied Peter Stastny (81 in 1985-86) for the franchise's third most assists in a single season. The 28-year-old forward's three-point game brought him within one of Stastny's franchise record (42 in 1981-82) for the most multi-point games in a single season.
Jonathan Drouin scored two goals and assisted on MacKinnon's goal which earned him a three-point night as well. He moved within one assist of his career-high 35 and is just two points shy of his career-high 53.
"Dru's (Drouin) the type of guy that can help drive the line with what he's doing offensively now," head coach Jared Bednar said after the win in Minnesota. "The way he's improved on the defensive side of the puck all year long makes me feel comfortable that I can play him against anybody and with anybody on our roster. So to have that flexibility as we start getting healthy here down the stretch is huge."
Mikko Rantanen notched his 40th goal of the season which made him the sixth player in franchise history with multiple 40-goal seasons — Michel Goulet (7), Joe Sakic (5), Stastny (4), MacKinnon (3) and Milan Hejduk (2). The 27-year-old Finn recorded 55 goals last season.
Bednar said after morning skate ahead of the Wild game that Alexandar Georgiev would start against the Oilers. Justus Annunen made 44 saves in his 11th start and earned his seventh win of the season in Minnesota.
The Avs beat the Oilers 3-2 in overtime on March 16. The teams face off for the final game of the regular season at Ball Arena on April 18.
Projected lineup
The Avalanche sent forward Chris Wagner back to the Colorado Eagles and Bednar confirmed Valeri Nichushkin had joined the team in Minnesota. The Russian forward has been out with a lower-body injury but may play against the Oilers. Assuming he'll remain out, here's NHL.com's projection:
Jonathan Drouin — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Brandon Duhaime — Casey Mittelstadt — Artturi Lehkonen
Miles Wood — Ross Colton — Zach Parise
Andrew Cogliano — Yakov Trenin — Joel Kiviranta
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard — Josh Manson
Jack Johnson — Sean Walker
Alexander Georgiev
Justus Annunen
The puck drops at 7 p.m. MT.