The Central Division-leading Colorado Avalanche have won four straight and are 7-1-0 in the last eight games.
Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar will likely not change anything and keep last game's lineup the same against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.
Forward Ryan Johansen has heated up as of late notching three points in his last two games. New players stepping up as they've gotten more comfortable has contributed to the team's recent improvement.
“I think all those guys are improving in different areas which makes their lines more effective. They’re working together as a connected group better than they were earlier on in the season," Bednar said.
Valeri Nichushkin is riding a career-high eight-game point-per-game streak and looks to keep that going at Mullett Arena.
It's been a good month for Cale Makar as he's set several new franchise and league records. His 20 assists are the most ever by a defenseman in the month of November — surpassing Ray Bourque’s 18 with the Bruins in 1984. Makar could match or top the overall franchise record for assists in a single month (21) set by Peter Stastny in October 1983.
Although the Avs struggled on the road at the end of October into November, goaltender Alexandar Georgiev is ranked second in opponent's buildings and currently has the most wins in the league.
The 27-year-old netminder's exceptional play hasn't gone unnoticed by Bednar. "He's given us some real good starts here recently ... That was an outstanding performance in goal," Colorado's head coach said after the win against Tampa Bay on Monday.
The Avalanche are 3-2-0 on the road in November as they face off against the Coyotes for the first of four matchups between the clubs this season.
Avalanche projected lineup vs Arizona Coyotes
Valeri Nichushkin — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Jonathan Drouin — Ryan Johansen — Tomas Tatar
Miles Wood — Ross Colton — Logan O’Connor
Andrew Cogliano — Fredrik Olofsson — Joel Kiviranta
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Bowen Byram — Josh Manson
Jack Johnson — Caleb Jones
Alexandar Georgiev
Ivan Prosvetov
The puck drops at 7 p.m. and is the first of three the Avalanche will play in four days on the road.