Colorado needs to repeat its last game against the Arizona Coyotes to get a consecutive win — but this time on the Central Division rival's ice.
Colorado needs to repeat its last game against the Arizona Coyotes to get a consecutive win — but this time on the Central Division rival's ice.
The NHL holiday break is over, and the Avalanche face off against the last team they played and beat 4-1 before the time off — except this matchup is in Coyotes territory in Arizona.
Despite the win, the Yotes were on a four-game winning streak before coming into Ball Arena and, like the Avs, have had more success on home ice (7-1-0 in their last eight at Mullett Arena).
“They are a really good team. We had success against them before so, we need to regroup," Coyotes head coach Andre Touringy said after the loss on Dec. 23. "First, we need to enjoy our families and have good down time and make sure we forget about that game and just move on. We need to just enjoy the holiday. I think that’s an important time of the year for every team to be able to reset.”
Coming off a few days rest will be an equal advantage for both teams but it will be a test for the Avalanche who lost their first game against the Coyotes on the road.
Colorado got goals from four different scorers in Denver — Bowen Byram, Valeri Nichushkin, Fredrik Olofsson and Josh Manson — which showed the team's depth when it plays a solid 60 minutes and eliminates mistakes from its game.
“I thought all lines were really good tonight. We played the right way. I don’t know, I just think that’s exactly the game we’re going to have to play," Andrew Cogliano said after the game Saturday. "We checked really hard, we got above pucks, our reloads and our tracking were the best we’ve seen all year, and when we do that our D are able to step up and can control the gap situation and turn back on teams. So, it seemed like we were just wearing them down shift after shift.”
Alexandar Georgiev made 24 saves and nearly had a shutout until Alex Kerfoot redirected a puck to the back of the net with three minutes left in the game on an Arizona power play.
“We’re trying to build our game and get on a little streak and play the right way, especially [against] this opponent," the 27-year-old goaltender said after the win. "They’re so good and they’re close to us I think in the standings, so it was an important game for us.”
Georgiev is expected to start between the pipes for the Avalanche on Wednesday but it looks like the Coyotes will switch out Connor Ingram for Karel Vejmelka in this matchup.
Projected lineup
Valeri Nichushkin — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Miles Wood — Ross Colton — Jonathan Drouin
Andrew Cogliano — Ryan Johansen — Logan O’Connor
Kurtis MacDermid — Fredrik Olofsson — Joel Kiviranta
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Bowen Byram — Josh Manson
Jack Johnson — Sam Malinski
Alexandar Georgiev
Ivan Prosvetov
With at least a point in this matchup, Nathan MacKinnon could extend his overall point streak to 19 games and Nichushkin would extend his to eight games. The puck drops at 7 p.m. MT at Mullett Arena.
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