NEW YORK ISLANDERS NOTES:

LAST GAME
DATE NYI RESULT SCORE NYI SCORERS IN GOAL
Sat. Dec. 17, 2022 Win NYI 5 at VGK 2 Lee, Fasching, Holmstrom,
Nelson, Parise
Varlamov (35/37)
Sorokin (1/1)

Anders Lee opened the score late in the first frame, then Simon Holmstrom scored his first career NHL goal, as the New York Islanders defeated the Vegas Golden Knights, 5-2, Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena. Brock Nelson, Zach Parise and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each recorded multi-point games, Hudson Fasching scored his second goal as an Islander, and Semyon Varlamov and Ilya Sorokin combined for 36 saves on 38 shots to help the Islanders earn their first win in their last four games.

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
Tonight, the New York Islanders visit the Colorado Avalanche in the second and final matchup between the two clubs this season. The last time these teams met was October 29 at UBS Arena, when twelve different Islanders found the scoresheet, as they scored five straight goals to earn a 5-4 win. Brock Nelson recorded the eventual game-winner. Tonight’s matchup is the Islanders’ first visit to Ball Arena since March 1 of last season, and is the fourth in a five-game road trip for the Islanders. They are 1-1-1 in their season-long trip so far. The Islanders look to capture their tenth win of the season against a Western Conference opponent tonight.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Dec. 18 Cory Schneider has been emergency recalled from loan (Bridgeport).
Dec. 17 Cal Clutterbuck and Kyle Palmieri are both day to day with upper body injuries.
Dec. 16 Kyle Palmieri has been activated off the team’s IR list.
Dec. 15 Adam Pelech has been placed on IR (retroactive Dec. 6).
Dec. 4 Robin Salo has been recalled from Bridgeport (AHL).
Dec. 3 Cole Bardreau has been assigned to Bridgeport (AHL).

INJURIES GAMES MISSED

3 Adam Pelech Dec. 9 –

12 Josh Bailey Nov. 29

15 Cal Clutterbuck Oct. 13, Nov. 8, Dec. 2- Dec. 6, Dec. 17

18 Anthony Beauvillier Dec. 10 – Dec. 13

21 Kyle Palmieri Nov. 23 – Dec. 13, Dec. 17

25 Sebastian Aho Oct. 13 – Oct. 20

26 Oliver Wahlstrom Oct. 13

Man Games Lost: 30

RECENT RESULTS
Saturday, Dec. 17 at Vegas W (5-2)
Friday, Dec. 16 at Arizona L (5-4)
Tuesday, Dec. 13 at Boston L/SO (4-3)
Saturday, Dec. 10 vs. Carolina L (3-0)
Friday, Dec. 9 at New Jersey W (6-4)

UPCOMING GAMES
Dec. 22 at NY Rangers Madison Sq. Garden (New York, NY) 7:00pm
Dec. 23 vs. Florida UBS Arena (Belmont Park, NY) 7:30pm
Dec. 27 vs. Pittsburgh UBS Arena (Belmont Park, NY) 7:30pm
Dec. 29 vs. Columbus UBS Arena (Belmont Park, NY) 7:30pm
Jan. 1 at Seattle Climate Pledge Arena (Seattle, WA) 8:00pm

SEASON SERIES
DATE LOCATION TIME RESULT
Oct. 29, 2022 UBS Arena (Belmont Park, NY) 7:30pm W (5-4)
Dec. 19, 2022 Ball Arena (Denver, CO) 9:00pm

LAST FIVE MEETINGS VS. COLORADO
Oct. 29, 2022 UBS Arena (Belmont Park, NY) Win (5-4)
Mar. 7, 2022 UBS Arena (Belmont Park, NY) Loss (5-4)
Mar. 1, 2022 Ball Arena (Denver, CO) Loss (5-3)
Feb. 19, 2020 Ball Arena (Pepsi Center) Loss (3-1)
Feb. 9, 2019 Barclays Center (Brooklyn, NY) OT Win (4-3)

vs. THE AVALANCHE:
2022-23 1-0-0
Last 5 meetings 2-3-0
Franchise History 43-40-4-3
NYI Home 28-15-1-0
NYI Away 15-25-3-3

TEAM NOTES
VISITING THE AVALANCHE
Tonight, the Islanders make their lone visit to Ball Arena this season for their second and final matchup with the Colorado Avalanche. The last time these teams met was October 29, 2022, at UBS Arena. Noah Dobson, Zach Parise, Scott Mayfield, Anthony Beauvillier and Brock Nelson scored five straight goals to help the Islanders mount a three-goal deficit and earn a 5-4 comeback win, their first three-goal comeback win since November 16, 2019. The Islanders’ last visit to Ball Arena was March 1 of last season, a 5-3 decision in Colorado’s favor. Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Ryan Pulock and Kyle Palmieri each scored, while Zach Parise tallied two assists. Parise enters tonight’s game with 46 career points (19 goals, 27 assists) against the Avalanche, leading active Islanders and seventh-most of any active NHLer against Colorado. The 38-year-old scored his third goal of the season the last time these teams met. The Minneapolis, MN native tallied his fourth multi-point game of the season (one goal, one assist) on Saturday to help the Islanders defeat the Vegas Golden Knights.

FIRSTS
Saturday night against Vegas, Islanders forward Simon Holmstrom scored his first career NHL goal in his 11th career game. He became the first Islander since Cole Bardreau (Nov. 5, 2019) to tally the eventual game-winner with his first NHL goal. Holmstrom is the 389th Islander in club history to record a goal, and he is the Islanders’ lone NHL debutante so far this season.

FASCHING
Hudson Fasching scored his second goal in his last four games Saturday night, and the third of his NHL career. Fasching scored his first of the season on December 6 vs. St Louis, ending a 38-game drought. Fasching had not scored since his first NHL goal in his first NHL game, March 26, 2016 vs. the Winnipeg Jets.

200
Islanders forward Brock Nelson became the 20th Islander in club history to record 200 assists in an Islanders sweater on Saturday night. He is the 16th member of his 2010 NHL Draft class to reach the milestone. Nelson, 31, leads the Islanders in goals (15) and points (33), and is second on the team in assists (18). Nelson scored the game-winner the last time the Islanders and Avalanche met, an empty-netter with 1:21 remaining in the third frame. Nelson leads the Islanders in game-winners (5) and is tied with Kyle Connor, Sidney Crosby, Brayden Point and Taylor Hall for second-most GWGs in the league. Five GWGs matches Nelson’s single-season career-high, which he first recorded during the 2019-20 season, and again in 2021-22. A native of Warroad, MN, Nelson is one of only seven NHLers who have not been held scoreless for consecutive games yet this season and the only skater in the Metropolitan Division. In Saturday night’s victory against the Golden Knights, Nelson recorded his eighth multi-point game of the season, including his 15th goal of the season and an assist.

ON THE ROAD
Tonight’s matchup is the fourth in a five-game road trip for the Islanders, the longest in their schedule this season. They are 1-1-1 on the trip so far. Following tonight’s game, they will travel back east to play their division rival New York Rangers on the 22nd on the front end of a back-to-back. Friday, the 23rd, the Islanders return home to host the Florida Panthers before the three day Christmas break. The Islanders enter tonight’s matchup with a 9-7-1 record on the road, and look to earn their tenth road win of the season. Last year, the Islanders did not earn their ninth road win until February 22nd (at Seattle), and they did not earn their tenth road win until February 27th (at Anaheim).

OPENING THE SCORE
The Islanders have opened the score in seven of their last eight victories, dating back to November 14 in Ottawa. This season, they are 12-3-0 when scoring the first goal. Eight of the Islanders’ nine road victories so far this season have seen them score first. Saturday night in Las Vegas, Islanders captain Anders Lee opened the score, with 1:02 remaining in the first frame.

24

Saturday night in Vegas, Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield registered a plus-4 rating, the highest he has recorded in a single contest since October 18, 2018. He is the second Islander to record a plus-4 rating this season, matching Robin Salo’s single-game season-high, set on Oct. 15, 2022 against Anaheim. Scott Mayfield has been the Islanders’ time-on-ice leader in the last ten games (since November 26), logging an average of 21:38 TOI /game.

25

Islanders defenseman Sebastian Aho has recorded a point in each of his last three games, including his career-high third goal of the season on Friday in Arizona. It is the second time in his career he has recorded a point streak of at least three games. A native of Umea, SWE, Aho also has a +6 rating through eight games this month, leading Islanders in that span.

18

Islanders forward Anthony Beauvillier scored his sixth goal of the season Friday night against the Arizona Coyotes. Beauvillier is one goal shy of his career 100th. He would become the 11th player from his 2015 NHL Draft class to reach the milestone. The last time the Islanders and Avalanche met, Beauvillier recorded the go-ahead goal to help the Islanders mount a three-goal deficit in a 5-4 win at UBS Arena. It was the Sorel-Tracy, QC native’s first career goal against Colorado.

DOBSON
Islanders defensemen have scored a league-high 23 goals so far this season. Noah Dobson, who leads Islanders defensemen in goals (10) and points (21) has found the back of the net three times in his last six games. Friday night against Arizona, Dobson scored his tenth goal of the season, tying Rasmus Dahlin for second-most amongst all NHL defensemen. Dobson enters tonight’s game seven points shy of his career 100th. Dobson is tied with Anders Lee and Zach Parise for second-most goals on the Islanders, behind Brock Nelson’s 15 tallies. Dobson is also one of just two Islander defensemen in franchise history to record 27 goals before their 23rd birthday (joining Denis Potvin). Dobson is three goals shy of his career-best, 13, set last season.

SEVEN
Forward Josh Bailey has recorded five points in his last six games, including his first multi-point game of the season on December 13 in Boston. Bailey tallied an assist Friday night in Arizona, his 567th career point, passing Pat LaFontaine for seventh-most in franchise history.

ASSISTS LEADER
Mathew Barzal leads the Islanders in assists, with 27 through 31 games this season. Entering tonight’s matchup, Barzal’s 27 assists are sixth-most in the league (tied with three other skaters). The 25-year-old is second on the team in points, with 31. Amongst Metropolitan Division skaters, only Artemi Panarin (32) and Adam Fox (27) have as many assists as Barzal so far this season.

COLORADO AVALANCHE NOTES:

UPCOMING GAMES
Date Opponent Time (MT) TV Radio
Mon, Dec. 19 NY ISLANDERS 7 p.m. Altitude 92.5
Wed, Dec. 21 MONTREAL 6 p.m. Altitude 92.5
Fri, Dec. 23 at Nashville 6 p.m. Altitude 92.5

• NHL HOLIDAY BREAK, Dec. 24-26 –
  Tue, Dec. 27 at Arizona 7 p.m. Altitude 2 92.5
  LAST GAME – Dec. 17 (Colorado 3, Nashville 1 at Ball Arena)
  Cale Makar had a goal and one assist and Alex Newhook tallied the game winner as the Avalanche beat the Predators, 3-1, at Ball Arena … Mikko Rantanen scored a power-play goal for Colorado and Alexandar Georgiev stopped 25-of-26 shots to help the Avs improve to 3-1-0 in their last four contests.
  SF: 30 SA: 26 PP: 1-3 PK: 2-2

TONIGHT’S GAME
COLORADO vs. NY ISLANDERS
7:08 p.m.
Altitude / 92.5
TV: Marc Moser (play-by-play), Mark Rycroft (analyst), Katie Gaus (reporter)
Radio: Conor McGahey
The Avalanche continues their season-long, five-game homestand tonight against the New York Islanders at Ball Arena … The Avs are 2-1-0 so far on this home stay, which concludes on Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens … Colorado has won three of its last four games after going 0-3-1 in its previous four contests … The Avs are currently in a stretch that finds them playing seven of eight and 10 of 13 at home … The club will play every other day from Nov. 29 until the holiday break: 13 games in 25 days.

AVALANCHE & NY ISLANDERS
The Avalanche and Islanders wrap up the season series with the second and final meeting of 2022-23 … New York rallied to win the first matchup 5-4 on Oct. 29 … Colorado won both matchups last year, sweeping a season series of two-plus games from the Islanders for the first time since 1998-99 (2-0-0)

SCHEDULE vs. ISLANDERS
Oct. 29 @ NYI (L, 4-5)
Dec. 19 vs. NYI

RECORD VS. ISLANDERS
THIS SEASON 2021-22 ALL-TIME SINCE 1995-96
Overall: 0-1-0 Overall: 2-0-0 Overall: 43-40-7 Overall: 20-15-4
Home: 0-0-0 Home: 1-0-0 Home: 28-13-5 Home: 14-3-3
Road: 0-1-0 Road: 1-0-0 Road: 15-27-2 Away: 6-12-1

20-20 VISION
Mikko Rantanen scored his 20th goal of the season on Thursday (Dec. 15) against the Sabres, reaching the 20-goal mark for the sixth time in his seven NHL seasons … Rantanen, who hit the milestone in Colorado’s 28th game of the season, became the first player in Avalanche history to reach the 20-goal mark in fewer than 30 contests … Joe Sakic (1995-96) and Nathan MacKinnon (2018-19) both did it in the 30th game of those respective seasons … Mikko is tied for fifth in the NHL in goals (21) … Seventeen of his goals have come at even strength, tying him for the NHL lead … Rantanen has 26 points (14g/12a) in 14 home games, the second-highest points-per-game average (1.86) in the NHL behind Connor McDavid (2.00).

NHL GOAL LEADERS NHL LEADERS, EVEN-STRENGTH GOALS
28 Connor McDavid EDM 17 Mikko Rantanen COL
25 Tage Thompson BUF 17 Jason Robertson DAL
23 Jason Robertson DAL 15 Sidney Crosby PIT
22 Bo Horvat VAN 14 Connor McDavid EDM
21 Mikko Rantanen COL 14 Cole Caufield MTL
21 Leon Draisaitl EDM 14 Andrei Svechnikov CAR

MOST 20-GOAL SEASONS FEWEST TEAM GAMES TO REACH 30 GOALS
AVALANCHE HISTORY (since 1995-96) AVALANCHE HISTORY (since 1995-96)
11 Milan Hejduk 28 GP Mikko Rantanen 2022-23
11 Joe Sakic 30 GP Joe Sakic 1995-96
9 Gabriel Landeskog 30 GP Nathan MacKinnon 2018-19
7 Nathan MacKinnon
6 Mikko Rantanen
6 Paul Stastny
6 Peter Forsberg

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Cale Makar’s two points on Saturday against Nashville gives him 208 points in his career, tying Rob Blake for sixth place on the franchise’s all-time scoring list among defensemen … Cale’s next goal will tie him with Adam Foote (56) for sixth in that category … Mikko Rantanen scored his 69th career power-play goal Saturday, passing Gabriel Landeskog (68) for seventh place in franchise history

QUICK ON THE DRAW
J.T. Compher leads the NHL with 137 faceoff wins this month (137-113, 54.8%) … Compher won a career-high 25 draws (25- 10, 71%) on Thursday against Buffalo, tied for the third-most faceoff wins in Avalanche history … As a team, Colorado won a season-high 48 faceoffs on Thursday against the Sabres, tied for the eighth most in a game in club history and matching its highest total over the last 20 seasons.

FACEOFF WINS, AVALANCHE HISTORY TEAM FACEOFF WINS, AVALANCHE HISTORY
28 Joe Sakic Jan. 6, 1999 vs. Florida 54 Jan. 6, 1999 vs. Florida
27 Joe Sakic Nov. 3, 2000 vs. Carolina 52 Feb. 22, 2000 vs. Atlanta
25 J.T. Compher Dec. 15, 2022 vs. Buffalo 51 Nov. 1, 1997 vs. Calgary
25 Chris Drury Feb. 22, 2000 vs. Atlanta 51 Feb. 10, 2000 vs. Calgary
25 Peter Forsberg Dec. 19, 1998 at San Jose 50 Oct. 14, 2000 vs. Columbus
50 Oct. 28, 1999 at Philadelphia
50 Jan. 18, 2001 vs. Vancouver
48 Dec. 15, 2022 vs. Buffalo
48 Jan. 6, 2017 vs. NY Islanders

CROWDED DRESSING ROOM
The Avalanche have used 35 players this season (33 skaters, two goalies), the most of any team in the NHL … Colorado used 39 players in each of the last two seasons, which tied the Avalanche record (since relocating) also set in 2010-11, 2003-04 and 1998-99 … Colorado’s injury list is now at 167 which puts them unofficially fourth in the league behind Washington (206), Philadelphia (185) and Columbus (177).

MOST PLAYERS USED, 2022-23
35 ….. Colorado
34 ……Columbus
33 ……Toronto
31 ……Vancouver
30 ……Los Angeles

DAYDREAM BELIEVER
The Avalanche will play nine afternoon contests this season … The schedule originally called for 10 daytime contests but the Nov 25th game in Nashville was postponed due to a water main break at Bridgestone Arena … The Avs are 1-0-0 in day games this season and 14-3-1 (.806) in afternoon contests since the start of the 2019-20 season, the second highest points percentage in day contests during that span behind only Carolina (19-3-2, .833) … The Avs finished 5-1-0 in day games last year, 3-0-0 at home.

THAT’S THE POWER OF LOVE
Colorado ranks fifth in the NHL in power-play percentage at 27.7% (28-101) … The Avalanche had the NHL’s top-ranked power play for 55 consecutive days from Oct. 15–Dec. 9 … The Avs are 12-5-1 when scoring a PPG this year, 3-6-1 when failing to do so … Colorado tallied a power-play goal in a season-high eight consecutive games from Oct. 29–Nov. 26 … The Avalanche’s power play scored at a 32.8% clip during the 2022 playoffs, the highest rate on record (since 1977-78) by an NHL team that played at least 20 games … During the 2021-22 regular season, Colorado finished seventh in power-play percentage (24.0%) and led all teams in power-play goals (67).

GRAND CENTRAL
Colorado is 7-2-1 against Central Division teams this season, 4-1-1 at home and 3-1-0 on the road

FIN-ISH WHAT YOU STARTED
Mikko Rantanen tallied his fifth career hat trick, including the tying score with 8.1 seconds left in regulation and the game-winning goal in overtime to finish Colorado’s Dec. 11th victory in St. Louis … Rantanen became the second player in Avalanche history to complete a hat trick with an overtime goal, joining Valeri Kamensky on Jan 3, 1998 at Pittsburgh … Overall, he’s the fourth skater in franchise history to accomplish the feat, as two Quebec Nordiques did it during the 1992- 93 season: Owen Nolan on Nov. 26, 1992 at Toronto and Scott Young on Dec. 12, 1992 at San Jose … Rantanen’s five hat tricks are tied for the sixth most in franchise history and the third most since the team relocated behind Joe Sakic (10) and Peter Forsberg (7)

ONE MONTH AT A TIME
Colorado finished 8-3-0 in November, the 23rd consecutive month that the Avs have posted a .500 or better record in… And 21 of those 23 months featured a winning record.

ALL HAIL CALE
Cale Makar recorded his 200th career point on Nov. 21 in Dallas, reaching the milestone faster than any defenseman in NHL history (195th game) … He appeared in his 200th career NHL game on Dec. 3 at Boston, with his 203 career points at the time the most ever by a defender through 200 contests … Among defensemen who appeared in at least 200 games during their career, only Makar (1.00), Bobby Orr (1.39) and Paul Coffey (1.09) averaged at least a point-per-game … Cale ranks fifth among NHL blueliners in scoring this season with 28 points (7g/21a) in 29 contests … He leads the entire NHL in ice time, averaging 26:57 minutes per game.

FASTEST DEFENSEMEN TO 200 POINTS NHL HISTORY
195 GP Cale Makar COL
207 GP Sergei Zubov NYR, PIT
211 GP Brian Leetch NYR
212 GP Phil Housley BUF
212 GP Denis Potvin NYI
216 GP Mark Howe HFD, PHI
216 GP Bobby Orr BOS

POINTS/GAME AVERAGE, DEFENSEMAN MINIMUM 200 GAMES PLAYED
PT/GP Player PTS GP
1.39 Bobby Orr 915 657
1.09 Paul Coffey 1531 1409
1.00 Cale Makar 208 207
0.99 Denis Potvin 1052 1060

SONG SUNG BLUE(LINE)
Colorado’s defensemen have combined for 71 points (14g/57a) this year, which ranks 10th among NHL teams … The Avs defense produced 64 goals last season, a franchise record and the most by any team since the 1992-93 Capitals (94) … The Avalanche’s blueline also lead all teams in points with a franchise-record 238, the most since the 1995-96 Red Wings had 240 … Colorado’s defensemen finished with 69 points (18g/51a) during the playoffs, the most by any blueline in a four-round postseason since the 1984-85 Oilers (77).

REVERSE RETRO JERSEY
The Avalanche are 2-0-0 in their adidas Reverse Retro 2022 ADIZERO jerseys … Colorado will wear the RR jersey four times this season: Nov. 26 vs. Dallas (W, 4-1), Dec. 11 at St. Louis (W, 3-2 OT), Dec. 29 vs. Los Angeles and Jan. 2 vs. Vegas … The 2022 Colorado Avalanche Reverse Retro uniform pays tribute to its home state by incorporating colors of the Colorado flag while reintroducing the original jersey design donned in the 1995 inaugural season.

POSTPONEMENT
The Avalanche and Predators game at Bridgestone Arena on Nov. 25 was postponed due to a water main break that significantly impacted the event level at the arena … The contest has been rescheduled for April 14 as Colorado’s final game of the regular season – it’s the second half of a back-to-back, the Avs play Winnipeg at home on April 13.

SHORT AND SWEET
Colorado is tied for third in the NHL with four shorthanded goals

BACK-TO-BACK
The Avalanche will play 13 back-to-backs this season … They have competed in four back-to-backs so far, going 2-2-0 in the first game and 2-2-0 in the second … The Avalanche posted a 15-5-2 (.727) combined record in back-to-back games last season, the second-best mark behind Minnesota (.732, 19-6-3) … The Avs finished 7-3-1 in the first game and 8-2-1 in the second (.773), with only Tampa (10-0-2, .917) posting a better record in the second half of a back-to-back.

RECORD REGULAR SEASON
The 2021-22 Avalanche set a franchise record with 56 wins and 119 points en route to winning their second straight division title and 11th since moving to Denver (13th in franchise history) … The Avs clinched the conference’s top spot despite facing a 10-point deficit behind the No. 1 seed on Dec. 3 … The last team to win their conference after overcoming a deficit of 10 or more points was the Rangers in 2014-15 (13) … The Avalanche sat in first place in the Western Conference over the final 106 days of the season and from Feb 10–April 19 were first in the entire NHL for all but one day (68 out of 69).

WINS, FRANCHISE HISTORY POINTS, FRANCHISE HISTORY
56 2021-22 119 2021-22
52 2000-01 118 2000-01
52 2013-14 112 2013-14

TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT
The 2021-22 Avalanche posted their best home season in franchise history with a 32-5-4 record (68 points) … Colorado tied Florida for the league lead in home points, ending with the most home points in the NHL for the second straight season after tying Pittsburgh with 46 in 2020-21 … The Avs posted an 18-game home winning streak from Nov. 11–Jan. 30, the fifth longest run in NHL history, and had a franchise record 22-game home point streak (20-0-2) from Oct. 30–Feb. 10.

AINT NO MOUNTAIN HIGH, AINT NO VALLEY LOW
Colorado’s Stanley Cup championship came five years after a last-place finish in 2016-17 …. The Avs became the fifth team in the expansion era (1967-68) to win a title within five years of a last place finish and the first since the 2009 Penguins … Colorado won the Presidents’ Trophy the previous year in 2020-21, becoming the first NHL team to go from worst to first overall in four seasons or less since the Bruins in 1970-71.

DOWN BUT NEVER OUT
Ten of the Avalanche’s wins during the 2022 postseason were earned in come-from-behind fashion, including four third-period comebacks … Colorado’s 10 comeback wins tied the 2009 Penguins for the most in NHL history … The Avs trailed in all four of their series-clinching victories, the first team in NHL history to do so.

ROAD, SWEET ROAD
The Avalanche finished a league-best 9-1 on the road during the 2022 postseason, tied for the fewest road losses by a Stanley Cup champion since 1987 (the 2012 Kings and 1995 Devils were both 10-1) … Colorado earned all four series-clinching wins on the road.

MAGIC YEAR FOR MAKAR
After becoming the first player in franchise history to win the Norris Trophy in 2021-22, Makar followed that up by winning the 2022 Conn Smythe as playoff MVP … At 23 years, 239 days, he became the youngest defenseman in 52 years to win the Conn Smythe and just the third overall to do so at age 23 or younger, joining Bobby Orr with the 1970 Bruins (22 years, 51 days) and Serge Savard with the 1969 Canadiens (23 years, 102 days) … Makar won the Conn Smythe just five days after receiving his first Norris Trophy … He became the third player to win both awards in the same season, following Orr in 1970 and Nicklas Lidstrom in 2002 … Makar led the Avalanche and all NHL defensemen with 29 points (8g/21a) in 20 games, the fourth-highest total by a defenseman in Stanley Cup Playoff history behind Paul Coffey (37) with the 1985 Oilers, Brian Leetch (34) with the 1994 Rangers and Al MacInnis (31) with the 1989 Flames.

IN BEDNAR WE TRUST
Jared Bednar is in his seventh season as the Avalanche’s head coach … Hired on Aug. 25, 2016, he is the third-longest tenured coach in the NHL behind Jon Cooper (March 25, 2013) and Mike Sullivan (Dec. 12, 2015) … Jared led the 2021-22 Avalanche to their most successful regular season in franchise history (56-19-7, 119 points) and continued that into the postseason with a 16-4 playoff mark en route to capturing the 2022 Stanley Cup … Bednar, who won a Calder Cup with the Lake Erie Monsters in 2016 and a Kelly Cup with the South Carolina Stingrays in 2009, became the first individual to win a championship in the NHL, AHL and ECHL as a head coach … He is the winningest coach in Avalanche history with a 256-179-48 (.580) regular season record … Bednar owns a 40-22-1 (.635) record in 63 postseason games, the best playoff winning percentage among active coaches and the third highest all time (min 50 GP) behind Glen Sather (.706) and Toe Blake (.689).

SUPER JOE ACHIEVES RARE FIRST
General Manager (now President) Joe Sakic, who captained the Avalanche to a pair of titles in 1996 and 2001, became the first individual in league history to win a Stanley Cup as a captain and GM with the same organization … He was just the third to win a championship as a player and general manager with the same franchise, joining Serge Savard of the Canadiens and Milt Schmidt of the Bruins.

TIP OF CAP
Gabriel Landeskog is in his 12th NHL season and 11th as team captain … He was the youngest captain in NHL history when he assumed the role at 19 years, 286 days on Sept. 4, 2012, a title he held for four years before Connor McDavid was given the ‘C’ by Edmonton at 19 years, 266 days on Oct. 5, 2016 … Landeskog is the second-longest serving captain in franchise history behind Joe Sakic (17 seasons, 16 consecutive) … Only three players have been captain of their current teams longer:

Sidney Crosby (PIT) ………………… 16th season (since 2007-08)
Jonathan Toews (CHI) …………….. 15th season (since 2008-09)
Alex Ovechkin (WSH) ……………… 14th season (since 2009-10)
Gabriel Landeskog (COL) …………11th season (since 2012-13)

2022-23 AVALANCHE TRANSACTIONS
Dec. 7 – Callahan Burke, Andreas Englund, Ben Meyers, Sampo Ranta recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL) … Alex Galchenyuk reassigned to the Colorado Eagles (AHL)
Dec. 8 – Martin Kaut placed on waivers … Sampo Ranta reassigned to the Colorado Eagles (AHL)
Dec. 9 – Martin Kaut cleared waivers, reassigned to the Colorado Eagles (AHL) … Brad Hunt recalled from the Colorado Eagles
(AHL) … Valeri Nichushkin activated from Injured Reserve … Callahan Burke reassigned to the Colorado Eagles (AHL)
Dec. 11 – Andreas Englund, Ben Meyers reassigned to the Colorado Eagles (AHL)
Dec. 13 – Andreas Englund, Ben Meyers recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL)
Dec. 14 – Shane Bowers activated from Injured Reserve and reassigned to the Colorado Eagles (AHL)
Dec. 15 – Jonas Johansson recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL) … Brad Hunt, Jonas Johansson reassigned to the Colorado Eagles (AHL)
Dec. 17 – Brad Hunt recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL) … Jean-Luc Foudy, Charles Hudon reassigned to Colorado (AHL)
Dec. 18 – Danila Zhuravlyov placed on unconditional waivers
Dec. 19 – Martin Kaut recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL)