The Colorado Avalanche (43-23-6), one of the league’s top power play offenses, travel to face the Anaheim Ducks (23-40-10) and their weak penalty killing defense at Honda Center on Monday. Colorado is playing on back-to-back days after earning a 4-3 shootout win over the Coyotes yesterday, their fifth win in a row away from home.
The Avalanche took advantage of their power play opportunities, scoring once on three shots while holding Arizona without a power play goal. Mikko Rantanen, Bowen Byram, and Valeri Nichushkin each scored once for the Avalanche. Rantanen added an assist to lead the team in scoring.
Alexandar Georgiev allowed three goals on 30 shots against (.900%) in the win. Anaheim is playing their last of eight games at home after a 6-3 loss against the Blues on Saturday, their fourth consecutive defeat.
Troy Terry, Nikita Nesterenko, and Ryan Strome each scored once for the Ducks. Terry added an assist to lead the team in scoring. John Gibson only had 30 saves on 36 shots against (.833%) in the loss.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Ducks won the first meeting between the teams this season, a 5-3 victory in January. Frank Vatrano led Anaheim with three goals. Rantanen (2G 0A) and Samuel Girard (1G 1A) each had two points to lead Colorado. Gibson got the win, saving 41 of 44 shots (.931%).
FACING OFF
Colorado is averaging 3.25 goals per game for the season, 15th in the NHL, and they are taking on a Ducks team that is allowing 4.03 goals a game (32nd). Meanwhile, Anaheim has found the net 2.55 times a game on average, 31st in the league, and the Avalanche are allowing opponents to score 2.74 goals per game (7th).
Anaheim averages fewer shots/game (28.4) than most teams in the league, ranking 29th, while the team’s 9.1% shooting percentage is 31st. Colorado has proven up to the task of stopping shots, ranking No. 4 with a team save percentage of .917%.
Look for several power play opportunities for the Avalanche, as the Ducks have been penalized 4.37 times a game, fifth-most in the NHL, for an average of 11.01 minutes (sixth-highest). The visitors are averaging 3.74 penalties (14th) and 8.46 penalty minutes a game (18th).
The Avalanche will be seeking to build on their second-ranked power play percentage of 25.55% against the Ducks, who are the league’s third-weakest penalty killing team (73.06%).
Anaheim, meanwhile, has scored on just 16.02% of their power play opportunities (30th), which the home team will be aiming to improve on against Colorado’s 17th-ranked 79.00% penalty killing rate.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Nathan MacKinnon (93 points), Rantanen (87), and Cale Makar (64) have been the top skaters this season for the Avalanche. Makar has been another top performer for Colorado, scoring 17 and assisting 47. In the net, Pavel Francouz (7-7-1) is Colorado’s top goaltender. He has a 2.53 GAA and a .919% save percentage.
Trevor Zegras and Terry lead the Ducks in scoring with 59 and 56 points, respectively. Zegras has 22 goals and 37 assists in 73 games, while Terry has 21 goals and 35 assists in 66 games.
Anthony Stolarz (5-6-0) has the best goals against average for Anaheim at 3.73. He has a save percentage of .897%. Gibson (14-28-8) has played the most games in net for the Ducks this season. He has a 3.93 GAA and a .900% save percentage.
HOME AND AWAY
Colorado is 23-11-1 away from Ball Arena this season. Anaheim is seeking to end a four-game losing streak at Honda Center this season. Meanwhile, the Avalanche are 7-3 without a day off and 6-1 playing with a rest disadvantage. The Ducks are 8-8 with a rest advantage.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
Colorado Avalanche -1.5 (-115)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
