VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS NOTES:
AGAINST THE AVALANCHE
All-Time Series: (10-12-1); at Vegas: (6-7-0); at Colorado: (4-5-1)
THE BACK-TO-BACKS
Vegas will face Colorado in the first game of their seventh back-to-back this season. So far this season, Vegas is 2-1-3 in the first game of a doubleheader and 2-2-1 in the second game. This is the second time the Golden Knights and Avalanche will be meeting on the front end of a back-to-back out of the three times they match up this season. The last time Vegas faced Colorado in the first game of a doubleheader, the Golden Knights shut out the Avalanche, 7-0, at T-Mobile Arena.
THE EAST COMES WEST
Vegas will welcome six Eastern Conference teams to T-Mobile Arena in January, the most eastern home matchups in a month this season. During the 2022-23 season, the Golden Knights posted a 22-8-2 record against the Eastern Conference (12-4-0 Atlantic, 10-4- 2 Metropolitan), the most wins against the conference in franchise history.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
The Golden Knights have scored first 23 times this season and are 11-1-1 when scoring first at home
COLORADO AVALANCHE NOTES:
The Colorado Avalanche wraps up their three-game homestand tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights at Ball Arena…All three opponents on this current homestand rank among the NHL’s top eight teams in points (also Florida, Boston)…The Avs are in a stretch of four straight versus the NHL’s top eight teams (also Dallas) and five straight against the top-10 (also Toronto)…The Avs are 7-1-1 in their last nine contests and 10-3-1 in their last 14…Colorado is 8-1-0 in its last nine home games and leads the NHL with 17 home victories (17-5-0)…The Avs will hit the road next as they depart Friday for a five-game East Coast road swing.
RECORD vs. GOLDEN KNIGHTS
THIS SEASON 2022-23 ALL-TIME
O: 0-1-0 O: 2-1-0 O: 13-9-1
H: — H: 1-1-0 H: 6-3-1 A: 0-1-0
A: 1-0-0 A: 7-6-0
10-GAME SEGMENTS
Games 1-10……………………. 7-3-0 (14 points)
Games 11-20………………….. 7-3-0 (14 points)
Games 21-30………………….. 4-4-2 (10 points)
Games 31-40………………….. 7-2-1 (15 points)
TONIGHT’S GAME NOTES
20-20-20 VISION
The Avalanche are the only NHL team to feature three 20-goal scorers this season, Nathan MacKinnon (22), Mikko Rantanen (21) and Valeri Nichushkin (20)…Colorado was the first team since the 1995-96 Penguins (Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Tomas Sandstrom, Ron Francis) and Flyers (Eric Lindros, John LeClair, Mikael Renberg) to have at least three 20-goal scorers through 40 team games.
ALSO…..
Colorado and Vancouver are the only teams with four different 40-point scorers this season and are the only clubs with at least two 50-point producers (Canucks have three with 50 points).
LIGHTING THE LAMP
The Avalanche enter play today as the NHL’s second-highest scoring team, averaging 3.66 goals-per-game…The Avs have 17 goals in their last four games, 20 in their last five games and 44 in their last 11 contests (not including shootout).
HALFWAY HOME
Colorado reached the halfway mark of its season following Monday’s 4-3 shootout victory over the Boston Bruins…The Avalanche’s 26-12-3 record (55 points) equaled its fourth-best mark at the halfway point of a season, while the club’s 26 wins are tied for the second most through 41 contests.
