History against the Utah Hockey Club

Colorado Avalanche (3-4-0) @ Utah Hockey Club (4-2-1)

7pm MT | Delta Center | Watch: Altitude TV, 9News, My20, Altitude+ | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (950 AM)

The Avalanche will look to win their fourth straight game when they complete their road trip against the Utah Hockey Club. This historic clash begins a Rockies rivalry tonight, with the two teams facing off against each other for the first time.

Last result (COL): COL 3, SEA 2

Last result (UTA): OTT 4, UTA 0

Avalanche vs Kraken 10.22.24 Summary

The Avalanche extended their winning streak to three games when they defeated the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday. Joel Kiviranta opened the scoring with his second goal in as many games when he scored on a wrist shot from a high position late in the first period. Seattle evened the score midway through the second period with a Jared McCann goal from down low. Kiviranta gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead at 14:56 of the second period with a deflection from the right doorstep, scoring his third goal of the season. Nathan MacKinnon doubled Colorado's lead at 19:52 of the second period with a power play goal. With Seattle's net empty, Ryker Evans scored with five seconds left in regulation to cut the Kraken deficit to one, but it wasn't enough to complete the comeback.

Avs successes

With his assist on MacKinnon's goal, Cale Makar tied the franchise record for most power play points by a defenseman with 151.

Makar, the NHL leader in points with 14 points (2g/12a), recorded two assists on Tuesday and joined Paul Coffey and Bobby Orr as the only defensemen in NHL history to record 12 assists in his team's first seven games of the season.

MacKinnon is third in the NHL with 12 points (3g/9a) and Mikko Rantanen is seventh with 11 points (4g/7a). The Avalanche are the only team in the NHL with three players in the top 10 league leaders.

Devon Toews played his 400th regular-season NHL game on Tuesday. Since being acquired by the Avalanche prior to the 2021 season, he has recorded 189 points (41g/148a) in 284 games. Additionally, Toews' +155 plus/minus rating is the best in the league since entering the NHL in 2018-19.

Obstructed by the senators

The Utah Hockey Club was defeated 4-0 by the Ottawa Senators at the Delta Center on Tuesday. Drake Batherson scored first at 11:43 of the first period before Claude Giroux doubled Ottawa's lead 83 seconds later at 13:06 of the first frame. Ottawa's scoring spree continued in the first period as Ridly Greig put the Senators up 3-0 with a power play goal at 18:05 before Brady Tkachuk made it 4-0 at 19:52.

Statistics you should know

In his last two starts, goaltender Justus Annunen has posted a 2-0-0 record and a .943 save percentage, stopping 50 of 53 shots.

Makar and MacKinnon are tied for the NHL lead in multi-point games with five points each.

With goals in each of the last two games, Kiviranta recorded his first multi-game goal streak in his career.

Utah Hockey Club in numbers

Clayton Keller leads the team with eight points (4g/4a), while Nick Schmaltz is second with seven (7a).

Dylan Guenther leads the team with five goals, while Keller and Barrett Hayton are tied for second with four goals.

In goal for Utah, Connor Ingram compiled a record of 4-1-1, along with a save percentage of .861 and a goals-against average of 3.82.

Numbers game

10

The Avalanche are 10th in the NHL and fourth in the Western Conference with 3.43 goals per game.

37.5

Colorado's power play percentage of 37.5% is third-best in the NHL, while the Avalanche rank first in the league with nine power play goals.

7

The Avalanche are tied for seventh in the NHL with seven goals in the first period.

Quote that left its mark

“If you look at all our games over the course of a year, they are very influential and are often on the scoresheet. I think the difference from this year is that we need them from the start because of the players missing from our lineup.”

– Jared Bednar on the importance of Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar scoring at least one point in each of the team's first seven games