Denver, Co. – The Carolina Hurricanes brave the waning Colorado snowstorm on Saturday to face off against the Avalanche for the first time this season. The Avalanche are 3-5-0 at home, earning their last win against the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday, 11/5.
The Avalanche return to Colorado after a hard-fought loss in Winnipeg, dropping the contest 1-0 and giving Connor Hellebuyck his second straight shutout. With this loss, both Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon saw the end of their consecutive season-opening point streaks (13). Despite the loss, MacKinnon still leads the NHL in assists (19). His 25 points on the season put him at second among NHL leaders, only falling behind Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov (27).
Mandatory Credit: James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images
A Wet Force of Nature vs. A Cold Force of Nature
Colorado and Carolina last faced off in February, where the Hurricanes took a 5-2 win over the Avalanche at home. Martin Necas tallied a natural hat trick in the first period of the game. The Avalanche split the season series against the Hurricanes with a 6-4 win at home in October of last season. They go into tonight’s match having won four of their last five matches against the Hurricanes in Ball Arena.
The Avalanche have an all-time franchise record of 80-50-21-3 against the Hurricanes franchise. What’s more exciting about that record is the specific stats when they play at home: 49-19-9-1. Those 49 wins are the most for them against an opposing team/franchise.
The Hurricanes go into tonight with an eight-game point streak and currently sit at 4th in the league standings, though their points percentage would put them at second league-wide. Martin Necas currently leads the team in points and assists while Jack Roslivic, a free-agency addition to the team from this past off-season, leads the team in points.
Roslovic had nine goals in last season’s campaign with the New York Rangers. He’s already hit that season total with the Hurricanes just 12 games into the season, two of which came from a 5-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.
Returns to Colorado
Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin makes his home-state return tonight. He inked an 8-year deal with Carolina this offseason, a deal that will keep him in Raleigh until after the 2032-33 season.
Slavin is coveted as one of the best active defensive defensemen. He’s rated among the best defensemen in the league sitting at number 13 on the NHL Network’s list released this offseason. Cale Makar tops this list at number 1, and his defensive partner, Devon Toews, sits at 10.
Tonight’s game also sees the return of Sean Walker, a trade-deadline pickup for the Avalanche last year. He returns after signing a 5-year, $3.6M deal with Carolina during this latest free-agency period. Walker’s only point this season comes in the form of a goal against the Boston Bruins. While he hasn’t been particularly loud on the scoresheet, he’s only improved Carolina’s defensive prowess on the ice in blocked shots and defensive-zone recoveries. His speed has only made it easier to fall into their system.
Team Thoughts Moving Into the Game
Colorado Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar really liked how his team played in Winnipeg. He’s looking for the team to recreate that on the ice tonight.
On what he’s looking for from his group to find success tonight against the Hurricanes’:
“I want us to play the same way we did against Winnipeg. We’re always trying to take periods of games or full games and reset the bar for a measuring stick on how we play. And I’d say Winnipeg – when you’re talking full 60 minutes against a really good team, the intensity of the game, the competitiveness of the game, the attention-to-detail when it comes to executing a game plan, I thought was as good as we’ve had this year so we have to go try and repeat it. There’s a lot of similarities between [Winnipeg and Carolina] and the way they play, the way they defend, the way they can get dangerous through four lines. I think we did a nice job against Winnipeg – I think if you play like that, even against Winnipeg night after night after night, you’re going to get some results. There’s minor adjustments to the game plan tonight against Carolina, but there’s also a lot of very similar characteristics of the two teams.”
Aside from a change on the defensive side of things (John Ludvig playing instead of Calvin de Haan), the lineup for the Avalanche will look the same tonight. Georgiev will get his second consecutive start in net.
Bednar on Alexandar Georgiev’s performance in Winnipeg:
“He was awesome last game, gave us a great chance to win. And that’s what we said, we’re going to play a rested goalie, we’re going to play the goalie that we feel gives us the best chance to win. Justus [Annunen] has had some great starts and strung some games together and [Georgiev] deserves the same respect.”
Mandatory Credit: James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images
Carolina flew into Denver this morning after a snowstorm grounded their flight out of Raleigh. Bednar spoke a bit on what it might mean to take advantage of that situation for his team:
“You’d like to have a good start and see if they have their legs underneath them, but this team can move, they play a fast game. It’s not something you do every day, so I would say advantage, yes, but if you’re prepared and ready to go like they have been every game this year, then I don’t know if there’s a clear cut advantage except you’re spending the morning on the plane.”
Colorado will look to take as many advantages as possible to secure a second consecutive home win tonight as they start a four-game homestand.
