COLORADO AVALANCHE NOTES:
The Avalanche and Coyotes face off for the second straight game as the Avs defeated the Yotes 4-1 prior to the break on Dec. 23 at Ball Arena…Arizona won the first matchup 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 30 at Mullett Arena…Since the start of the 2020-21 campaign, Colorado is 12-3-3 against Arizona…The Avs are 10-1- 1 in their last 12 home meetings but just 1-2-1 in their last four road matchups.
LAST GAME – DEC. 23 AVALANCHE 4, COYOTES 1 – at Ball Arena Fredrik Olofsson had a goal and an assist and Josh Manson, Bowen Byram and Valeri Nichushkin all scored to lead the Avalanche to a 4-1 victory over the Coyotes at Ball Arena…Nathan MacKinnon had an assist to extend his point streak to 18 games and Logan O’Connor added two helpers…Alexandar Georgiev made 24 saves.
DECEMBER TO REMEMBER Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL with 25 points (10g/15a) in December, tying his career high for points in a single calendar month (Nov. 2019)…With three games left in December, he is just three points shy of the franchise record for a single month (28) set by Peter Stastny in February of 1981.
ARIZONA COYOTES NOTES:
3 HARD LAPS
• The Coyotes return to Mullett Arena after the holiday break for a rematch with the Colorado Avalanche. After a 4-1 loss in Colorado, Arizona looks to bounce back with a win at home, which would be their 12th win at home this season (only three teams have 12+ home wins as of 12/26). • Alex Kerfoot enters tonight’s game on a two-game scoring streak and a four-game point streak. With 15 of his 21 points coming at home, Kerfoot leads the team in points tallied at Mullett Arena this season. • Logan Cooley is amidst his first home game point streak of the season (12/16-12/19) after recording in assist in each of the last two home games. Prior to the streak, Cooley had three points at home all season.
PACK FACTS .
Clayton Keller (12-18-30) was the first Coyote to reach the 20-point and 30-point marks this season. This is the third consecutive season that he was first on the team to reach both marks. . Logan Cooley became the third-youngest Coyote (19y, 191d) to record three points in a game (Chychrun, 18y, 345d) in their win against Nashville. · Matias Maccelli (6-18-24) tied the ARI/WIN franchise record for most consecutive home games with a point to start a season (8 games), previously set by Igor Korolev in 1995-96. · Nick Schmaltz (10-12-22) leads the team in PPG (6) and is second on the team in PP TOI with 118:33. · Nick Bjugstad is tied for the league lead in GDG (2) and recorded the team’s first ENG (11/11 at NSH) and SHG (12/4 vs WSH) this season. Sean Durzi leads the Coyotes in TOI (22:27). Among NHL players with 22+ minutes of TOI/G, he is seventh in shooting percentage (10.0%). . Alex Kerfoot (4-17-21) leads the team in three-point games this season with four. He also carries the sixth longest active consecutive games played streak at 296 games. . Michael Carcone is tied for the team lead in goals (14) and had his first career goal streak from 11/28-12/4 (4 games). He is now tied for 12 th in the NHL in even-strength goals (12). . Lawson Crouse tied his career long five-game point streak last month (10/24-11/4) and scored the third most goals in the NHL in November. . Troy Stecher scored his first goal as a Coyote in Nashville in his 73rd game with the team. . Jason Zucker scored his third power play goal of the year against Dallas and is one of 13 players in the NHL with 26 or fewer GP and three or more PPG. . J.J. Moser leads the team in SHP (2) and has been involved in both of Arizona’s shorthanded goals this season. . Josh Brown lit the lamp for the first time this season against Chicago, and now sits one goal away from ten career NHL goals. . Connor Ingram recorded his third shutout of the season against the Sharks and is the only goaltender in the NHL with both three shutouts and multiple points (0-2-2). . Karel Vejmelka set a new career-long shutout sequence at 156:55 (69 saves on 69 shots), the longest shutout sequence in the NHL this season. . The Coyotes average the eighth-most goals scored in the first and second period per game at 2.24 (74 G in 33 GP).
YOTES & AVALANCHE
-Tonight is the third of four ARI-COL matchups this season. The two teams will meet for the final time this season in Denver on February 18 th . – Nick Schmaltz has registered six points in his last seven games against the Avalanche (3-3-6); the Coyotes are 3-1-3 in these games. – Clayton Keller has at least one point in seven of his last eight games against Colorado, averaging 1.00 P/GP during the stretch.
Coyotes franchise vs Avalanche
• All-Time: 62-62-12-14
• Home: 33-29-7-6
• Road: 29-33-5-8
• L10: 4-3-3
• STRK: L1
INJURY UPDATE (total man games lost to injury: 90 games)
Barrett Hayton – 17 (11/18-12/23) – Lower-Body
Vladislav Kolyachonok – 13 (11/28-12/23) – Lower-Body
Travis Boyd – 11 (12/2-12/23) – Upper-Body
KILLING IT – Since 11/9, the Coyotes have held an 86.4% PK, good for fifth best in the league during that span. In that time, the Coyotes have been shorthanded 59 times, tied for the fifth fewest in that time. – Through the first 12 games of the season, the Coyotes had a PK% of 71.4% (T-25th). Since then, their 86.4% PK improved their overall season percentage to 80.2% (14 th). – The Coyotes killed 18 straight opponent power plays from 11/16-11/28, spanning six games. – Went 7-7 on the PK against St. Louis on 11/9, one of only three teams to kill 100% of PP opportunities with seven or more times shorthanded in a game this season. The last time the Coyotes went 7/7 or better on the PK was 1/8/15. – The Coyotes did not allow a PPG in their four game season series against the Blues, the first time they have done so in a four-game series since 2019-20 against the Ducks.
SQUEAKY CLEAN – The Coyotes have had two games this season with zero penalties and zero PIM. – The two penalty-free games this season are the 11th and 12th games in franchise history with zero penalties. – This season is the second in franchise history with more than one game in which the Coyotes registered zero penalties (2016-17, 2 games) – Both penalty-free games occurred at home, in back-to-back home games. This is the first time in franchise history that a Coyotes team has had zero penalties in consecutive home games. – The Coyotes are one of two teams in the NHL with multiple games with zero penalties (NJD, 2 games).
