COLORADO AVALANCHE NOTES:
UPCOMING GAMES
Date Opponent Time (MT) TV Radio
Tue, Dec. 27 at Arizona 7 p.m. Altitude 2 92.5
Thu, Dec. 29 LOS ANGELES 7 p.m. Altitude 92.5
Sat, Dec. 31 TORONTO 5 p.m. Altitude 92.5
Mon, Jan. 2 LAS VEGAS 7 p.m. Altitude 2 950 AM
LAST GAME – Dec. 23 (Colorado 3, Nashville 2 in OT)
Samuel Girard scored with 43 seconds left in overtime and the Avalanche rallied from an 0-2 deficit to beat the Nashville Predators, 3-2, at Bridgestone Arena … Mikko Rantanen notched his team-leading 23rd goal of the season and J.T. Compher scored the tying goal with 4:55 left in regulation … Alexandar Georgiev made 38 saves for his fourth straight win and the club’s fourth consecutive victory as well.
SF: 46 SA: 40 PP: 0-4 PK: 2-3
• The Avalanche headed into the holiday break winners of four straight games and 6-1-0 in their last seven contests… The four straight victories matches the club’s longest win streak of the season (Nov. 4-12)
• The Avs improved to 7-2-0 in games decided beyond regulation, 4-1 in overtime and 3-1 shootouts
• Girard’s OT winner was the first of his NHL career
• This marked the third straight overtime game for the Avalanche (all wins) … The last time the Avalanche went to overtime in three straight games and won all three of those OT contests was March 10-14, 2012
• Rantanen’s goal was his 23rd of the season (fifth in the NHL) and league-leading 19th even-strength goal … It was his 10th goal in December, the second most of his career in a single month (13 in March 2021) … Mikko also had an assist for his 118th career multi-point game, passing Dale Hunter (117) for sole possession of 10th place in franchise history
TONIGHT’S GAME
COLORADO at ARIZONA
7:08 p.m. MT
Altitude / 92.5
Altitude: Marc Moser (play-by-play), Mark Rycroft (analyst), Katie Gaus (reporter)
Radio: Conor McGahey
The Avalanche returns from their three-day holiday break as they head to Arizona to face the Coyotes tonight at Mullett Arena … Colorado had the last three days off before flying here earlier this morning … There have been no games on Christmas Eve since 1972 (when three were played) and none on Christmas Day since 1971 (when six were played) … There have been none on Boxing Day (Dec. 26) since 2011-12 … The Avs have won four straight games, tying their longest win streak of the season, and are 6-1-0 in their last seven contests.
AVALANCHE & COYOTES
Tonight is the first of four meetings between the Avalanche and Coyotes and Colorado’s first-ever visit to Mullett Arena.
SCHEDULE vs. COYOTES
Dec. 27 @ ARI
Mar. 11 vs. ARI
Mar. 24 vs. ARI
Mar. 26 @ ARI
RECORD VS. COYOTES
THIS SEASON 2021-22 ALL-TIME SINCE 1995-96 PLAYOFFS
Overall: — Overall: 2-1-1 Overall: 72-52-20 Overall: 55-32-12 Series: 2 (2-0)
Home: — Home: 1-0-1 Home: 38-24-10 Home: 28-14-7 W-L Record: 8-2
Road: — Road: 1-1-0 Road: 34-28-10 Road: 27-18-5
SEEING STARS
Alexandar Georgiev was named the NHL’s Second Star for the week of Dec. 19-25 … He led the NHL with three wins – all of which required extra time – while stopping 82 of the 85 shots for a 0.94 goals-against average and .965 save percentage with one shutout … He opened the week by stopping all 26 shots he faced to record his 10th career shutout in a 1-0 shootout win over the New York Islanders Dec. 19, becoming just the second goalie in Avalanche history to post a 1-0 shootout win (Reto Berra, April 9, 2015 vs. Winnipeg) … Georgiev then made 19 saves in a 2-1 overtime triumph over the Montreal Canadiens on Dec. 21 followed by a 37-save performance in a 3-2 overtime victory over the Nashville Predators on Dec. 23… Georgiev has won his past four starts, his longest win streak of the season, during which he’s allowed just four goals on 111 shots (0.96 GAA, .964 Sv%) … He ranks among the NHL’s top-10 netminders in wins (15, t-5th), save percentage (.925, 6th), goals-against average (2.36, 6th) and shutouts (2, t-5th) …. Going back to last year, Alexandar is 23-7-2 in his last 33 regular-season games (32 starts).
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
The Avalanche finished with one of their best records at the NHL’s holiday break since relocating to Denver
Year Record Pts Pts%
2000-01 23-7-5-0 51 .729
2013-14 23-10-3 49 .681
2021-22 17-8-2 36 .667
2019-20 23-11-3 49 .662
1997-98 19-8-11 49 .645
2022-23 19-11-2 40 .625
2009-10 21-12-6 48 .615
2001-02 21-13-4-0 46 .605
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
Each of Colorado’s last three games have gone to overtime (all wins) … The last time the Avalanche went to overtime in three straight games and won all three of those OT contests was March 10-14, 2012 … The Avs are 6-1-0 in their last seven contests with five of the six wins coming by one goal … Half of Colorado’s 32 games this season have been decided by one goal, with Colorado posting a 9-5-2 record in those situations.
CROWDED DRESSING ROOM
The Avalanche have used 36 different players this season (34 skaters, two goalies), the most of any team in the NHL … The club 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 184 which puts them unofficially fourth in the league behind Washington (228), Columbus (208) and Philadelphia (202).
MOST PLAYERS USED, 2022-23
36 ….. Colorado
35 ……Columbus
33 ……Toronto
31 ……Vancouver
YOU’RE A MEAN ONE, MISTER GRINCH
Colorado has out-shot the opposition 199-132 over the last five games (an average of 39.8 to 26.4) and out-attempted its opponents 319-204 (+115) at 5-on-5 during this stretch … The Avs have allowed two goals or less in six of their last seven games and have yielded only four goals TOTAL over the last four contests.
GRAND CENTRAL
Colorado is 8-2-1 against Central Division teams this season, 4-1-1 at home and 4-1-0 on the road
WORKING OVERTIME
Each of Colorado’s last three games have gone to overtime (all wins) … The last time the Avalanche went to overtime in three straight games and won all three of those OT contests was March 10-14, 2012 … The Avalanche are 7-2 in games decided past regulation, 4-1 in overtime and 3-1 in shootouts … Colorado’s .778 winning percentage beyond regulation ranks fourth in the league, while its three shootout wins are tied for second behind only Montreal (4-0) … The Avalanche are 80-45 all-time in shootouts, the highest winning percentage (.640) of any team since the tiebreaker started in 2005-06 (not including Seattle) … The Avs have the best all-time shooting percentage at 38.3% (161/420) and the fifth-best save percentage at .717 (306/427) … Alexandar Georgiev has participated in all four shootouts this year, allowing just three goals on 13 shots (.769) … His three wins are tied for the league lead while his .769 save percentage ranks second among all netminders who have faced 10+ shots behind Logan Thompson (.917) … Georgiev is 9-4 with a .688 Sv% in career shootouts (48/15) … Pavel Francouz is 3-0 in career shootouts stopping all nine shots he’s faced … Evan Rodrigues is 2-for-2 in shootouts this year, scoring the winning tally in both contests.
THE MOOSE IS LOOSE
Mikko Rantanen ranks sixth in the NHL in goals (23), which includes a league-leading 19 even-strength tallies … Only two Avalanche players ever scored more goals at the time of the NHL’s holiday break, Joe Sakic (25) in 1995-96 and Gabriel Landeskog (24) in 2018-19 … Rantanen’s 23 tallies are the most by a Colorado skater through 32 team games … He has 10 goals in December, the second most of his career in a single month (13 in March 2021) … Mikko scored his 20th goal of the season on 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.
NHL GOAL LEADERS NHL LEADERS, EVEN-STRENGTH GOALS GOALS IN DECEMBER
30 Connor McDavid EDM 19 Mikko Rantanen COL 12 Tage Thompson BUF
26 Tage Thompson BUF 18 Jason Robertson DAL 12 Connor McDavid EDM
24 Jason Robertson DAL 16 Sidney Crosby PIT 10 Mikko Rantanen COL
24 David Pastrnak BOS 16 Connor McDavid EDM 10 David Patrnak BOS
24 Bo Horvat VAN 15 (3) Players Tied 9 Alex Ovechkin WSH
23 Mikko Rantanen COL
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
MINUTE BY MINUTE BY MINUTE…. I’ll KEEP HOLDING ON
Cale Makar leads the entire NHL in ice time, averaging 27:12 minutes per game … He’s logging a league-high 27:57 in December, with Devon Toews third among all skaters in average ice time this month at 26:39 … Mikko Rantanen leads all NHL forwards in ice time this month (24:42) with J.T. Compher second (23:34)
THE HIT PARADE
Andreas Englund leads the team with 59 hits despite playing just 15 games … He has 45 hits in 11 games this month, fifth most in the NHL so far in December.
STAYING OUT OF THE BOX
The Avalanche have taken only 11 penalties (all minors, 22 penalty minutes) in the last six games, which included a franchise-record streak of four straight games with two penalties or less from Dec. 13-21 … For the year, Colorado ranks sixth in the league in fewest penalties per game (8.2).
ALL HAIL CALE
With an assist on Dec. 21, Cale Makar passed Rob Blake (208) for sixth place on the franchise’s all-time scoring list among defensemen with 209 points … Makar (55 goals) is one behind Adam Foote (56) for sixth place in that category … Cale 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 … Cale ranks fifth among NHL blueliners this season with 29 points (7g/22a) in 32 contests.
QUICK ON THE DRAW
J.T. Compher leads the NHL with 180 faceoff wins this month (180-153, 54.1%) … Compher won a career-high 25 draws (25-10, 71%) on Dec. 15 against Buffalo, tied for the third-most faceoff wins in Avalanche history … Colorado won a season-high 48 faceoffs against the Sabres, tied for the eighth most 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
THAT’S THE POWER OF LOVE
Colorado ranks sixth in the NHL in power-play percentage at 26.6% (29-109) … 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).
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.
EAST SIDE STORY
The Avalanche are 10-6-1 against Eastern Conference teams … Colorado finished 22-8-2 against the East last year, its most wins and tied for its most points (46) ever against the other conference … Since Jared Bednar was hired in 2016-17, the Avs are 100-60-16 against the Eastern Conference, which includes a league-best 53-20-7 (.706) mark since 2019-20.
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 2019-20, 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.
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.
MILE HIGH MAINSTAY
Erik Johnson is in his 15th NHL season and 13th with the Avalanche … His 13 seasons rank fourth in franchise history behind only Joe Sakic (20), Adam Foote (17) and Milan Hejduk (14), with Foote the only other defenseman on that list … Johnson is the longest current tenured athlete of any of Denver’s four major sports teams, followed by Gabriel Landeskog and Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon (both 12 seasons).
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.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH; AVS WIN STANLEY CUP
The Avalanche won their third Stanley Cup championship in 2022 following 1996 and 2001 … Colorado claimed its title by going 16-4 in the postseason, which included a pair of sweeps and defeating the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning in six games during the Final … The Avs became the sixth team to win a Cup with four or fewer postseason losses since 1987 when the NHL went to four rounds of best-of-seven … And of those six only one team had fewer losses, the 1988 Oilers (two) … The Avalanche did not lose consecutive games all playoffs.
ALL I DO IS WIN WIN WIN NO MATTER WHAT
The 2021-22 Avalanche equaled the NHL record for the most combined regular season/playoff wins with 72 (56 regular season, 16 playoff), a feat only three teams in NHL history had achieved before … The 2021-22 Avalanche joined the 1995- 96 Red Wings, 1983-84 Oilers and 1976-77 Canadiens on that list.
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 thirdperiod 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.
SONG SUNG BLUE(LINE)
Colorado’s defensemen 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).
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 259-179- 48 (.582) 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 COACH’S CHALLENGES (3 W, 0 L)
W Oct. 28 at New Jersey – call on the ice overturned. Devils player was offsides, no goal
W Nov. 23 vs. Vancouver – call on the ice overturned for goaltender interference on Canucks player. No goal
W Nov. 29 at Winnipeg – call on the ice overturned for goaltender interference on Jets player. No goal
2022-23 RECORD BY JERSEYS
Burgundy: 6-5-1 (wore it once as visitors, 5-1 loss in Boston on Dec. 3)
White: 9-5-0
Blue: 2-1-1
Reverse Retro: 2-0-0
2022-23 AVALANCHE TRANSACTIONS
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) … Denis Malgin acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in
exchange for Dryden Hunt … Kurtis MacDermid activated from Injured Reserve … Danila Zhuravylov cleared waivers
and contract terminated
ARIZONA COYOTES NOTES:
3 HARD LAPS
• Arizona is 2-2-1 in its last 5 games but hold a 5-3-2 record at home this season
• Nick Schmaltz comes into the matchup on a 5-game point streak and can match the longest by a Coyote this season with a point tonight (Keller, 11/5 – 11/17)
• The last time the Coyotes beat the Avalanche three straight times was a four-game run from 1/16/12 – 4/6/13
LAST GAME
Coyotes 2, Kings 1 (SO) – December 23, 2022 – Mullett Arena
ARI Goals: Schmaltz (6)
LAK Goals: Iafallo (4)
ARI Goalie: Vejmelka (W) – 26 svs on 27 shots
LAK Goalie: Quick (O) – 23 svs on 24 shots
PP: 1-6 PK: 1-2
Notes: Arizona won a game via shootout for the first time this season…Nick Bjugstad registered the shootout-deciding goal, which was the only goal of the shootout…The shootout goal was Bjugstad’s seventh career shootout-deciding goal…Nick Schmaltz extended his point streak to five games (2-5-7) with his first period goal. The tally came on a 5-on-3 power play, the second such tally for the Coyotes this season (12/13 at San Jose)…Clayton Keller got back on the scoresheet by assisting on Schmaltz’s goal, his 19th of the season to put him in a tie with Matias Maccelli for the most on the team…Shayne Gostisbehere pitched in an assist for his 10th point of December, giving the Coyotes four players with 10 points this month (Gostisbehere, Keller, Schmaltz, Chychrun)…Karel Vejmelka stopped 26-of-27 shots as well as three shootout attempts en route to his 10th win of the season…Friday marked the fifth consecutive game the Coyotes and their opponent were tied after two periods…ARI is yet to lose in regulation on a Friday this season (3-0-2)…The Yotes’ 39 hits were tied for the most hits in a game this season (12/9 vs BOS)…Jack McBain threw 7 of those hits and overtook the team-lead in that category this season (103)…Matias Maccelli left the game in the first period and did not return due to a lower-body injury
MAN GAMES LOST (Name/Roster Status/Injury Type/Games Missed/Last Game Played)
Liam O’Brien…Week-to-Week…Upper-Body (4 / 12/16)
Total man games lost: 67 games
Jakob Chychrun (16), Nick Schmaltz (15), Zack Kassian (9), Connor Timmins (9), Andrew Ladd (6), Josh Brown (3),
Ben McCartney (3), Juuso Valimaki (1), Lawson Crouse (1)
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
-12/18 – Assigned F Jan Jenik to Tucson (AHL)
-12/17 – Recalled F Jan Jenik from Tucson (AHL)
-12/15 – Assigned D Dysin Mayo to Tucson (AHL)
-12/8 – Loaned F Dylan Guenther to Team Canada for the 2023 WJC
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
DATE TIME
(AZ)
OPPONENT VENUE TV RADIO
Thur, Dec 29 7pm vs TOR Mullett Arena Bally Sports Arizona 98.7 FM Sat, Dec 31 3pm at TBL AMALIE Arena Bally Sports Arizona ESPN 620 Tue, Jan 3 5pm at FLA FLA Live Arena Bally Sports Arizona TBD
YOTES & AVS
- Tonight is the first of four ARI-COL matchups this season. They’ll play in Colorado on 3/11 and 3/24 as well as 3/26 in AZ
- Excluding the COVID season, the three games in March will represent the first time the Coyotes will play a team three times in a month since March of 2017 when the team played St. Louis 3x
- Arizona split the season series with the eventual Stanley Cup champs (2-1-1) last season, including winning the final two matchups.
- A win tonight would mark the Coyotes’ first 3+ game win streak over the Avs since a four-game run from 1/16/12 – 4/6/13
- Nick Schmaltz registered the game-winning goal in the last matchup back on 3/3/22, which was assisted by Clayton Keller and Jakob Chychrun
- Karel Vejmelka recorded 42 saves in the 2-1 win on 3/3/22. He’s faced the Avs twice in his career and holds a .920 SV% over his two starts from last year
- Matias Maccelli made his NHL debut in the 3/3/22 ARI-COL game
-Coyotes franchise vs Avalanche/Nordiques:
• All-Time: 60-60-12-12
• Home: 31-29-7-5
• Road: 29-31-5-7
• L10: 4-4-2
• STRK: W2
SCORING NOTABLES AGAINST THE AVALANCHE
Clayton Keller…2-11-13…20 career GP
Jakob Chychrun…2-5-7…20 career GP
Nick Ritchie…2-7-9…15 career GP
Shayne Gostisbehere…1-4-5…12 career GP
Career Leaders
Goals (Kassian, 5)… Assists (Keller, 11)…Points (Keller, 13)
Career Leaders Among Defensemen
Goals (Chychrun, 2)…Assists (Chychrun, 5)…Points (Chychrun, 7)
KELLER INSTINCT
- Clayton Keller enters tonight among Arizona leaders in goals (12, 2nd), assists (19, T-1st) and points (31, 1st) in 2022-23…He comes into tonight with 9 pts (5-4-9) in his last 8 GP
- Keller picked up an assist on Friday and has produced five goals and 10 points over 12 December games
- Those five tallies all came in the form of multi-goal games (Hat Trick on 12/11, 2 goals on 12/16)…The pair of multigoal games already ties the second-most Keller has recorded in a season (5 in 2019-20)
- Keller has posted two multi-goal games in a month four different times but has never registered three multi-goal games in a month
- After being named a Calder finalist in 2017-18, Keller only averaged a hair over half a point per game in the ensuing seasons. His scoring line has spiked back up under André Tourigny, specifically since 11/18/21 10/4/18 – 11/17/21 11/18/21 – 12/23/22
GP 224 83
G 48 37
A 84 51
P 132 88
P/GP 0.59 1.06
IN THE NICK OF TIME
- Nick Schmaltz has begun his season with 6-8-14 in 17 GP and comes into tonight on a 5-game point streak (2-5-7 in that span)
- Schmaltz scored last time out (12/23) to extend his point streak to 5 games, which was his first power-play tally of the season
- His 5-game run is his longest of the season. His only 6+ game point streaks have come during his career-best 7-game run in March of 2022 and a 6-game streak in October of 2019
- All 14 of Schmaltz’s points have come since returning from injury (11/21), which ranks T-1st on the Coyotes since then
- The forward has tallied 3-7-10 in his last 8 GP predating his 5-game point streak
- Schmaltz has found the scoresheet in all six home games he’s played this season, producing 3-6-9 at Mullett Arena…The six-game home point streak is the longest by a Coyote since Keller’s 9-game run from 1/17/22 – 2/25/22
- Arizona is 12-3-2 when Schmaltz records a multi-point game since the start of 2021-22…This season in Coyotes wins, he’s registered 3-5-8 in 5 GP
- In his last 82 games (since 4/30/21), Schmaltz has recorded 29-45-74…He’s also registered 29-43-72 in his last 73 GP
- Since his Coyotes debut on 11/27/18, Schmaltz has recorded 55-109-164 in 219 GP. His 0.75 PPG paces the Coyotes since then (min. 50 GP) and his point total trails just Keller in that span
CHYCHA CHYCHA BOOM BOOM
- Jakob Chychrun has posted a 3-10-13 scoring line in 16 games this season. All 13 of his points have come in his last 15 games
- Since 11/23 (his last 15 GP), Chychrun ranks among NHL blueliners in goals (T-6th), assists (T-7th), points (T-7th) and shots (54, 3rd)
- The blueliner has chipped in 0-6-6 over 6 home games for Arizona this season
- Chychrun’s start is the second consecutive season a Coyotes defenseman has recorded 13+ points within his first 16 games played of a campaign, as Shayne Gostisbehere (2-11-13 in 16 GP) accomplished the feat last year
- The seventh-year NHLer enters tonight with 99 career assists. A helper tonight would make him just the ninth defensemen in Coyotes/Jets history to register 50+ goals and 100+ assists with the franchise
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Shayne Gostisbehere (8-16-24 in 32 GP) enters tonight ranking among NHL d-men leaders in goals (T-4th), points (T-15th), power-play goals (3, T-6th) and even-strength points (14, T-13th) on the campaign
- The blueliner has compiled 10 pts (4-6-10) in his last 11 games, as well as 14 pts (4-10-14) in his last 15 GP (since 11/23)
- Since 11/23, Gostisbehere ranks T-1st among NHL d-men in goals, T-4th in points as well as T-7th in assists
- Gostisbehere (82-212-294 in 495 GP) is closing in on 300 pts and 500 games for his career. He is on track tobecome the sixth player and second defenseman from the 2012 Draft Class to play in 500+ games and record 300+ points (Filip Forsberg, Tomas Hertl, Morgan Rielly, Teuvo Teravainen, Alex Galchenyuk)
