The Colorado Avalanche (11-5-1), the NHL’s top power play offense, welcome the Vancouver Canucks (6-10-3) and their weak penalty killing defense at Ball Arena on Wednesday. Vancouver is kicking off a four-game road trip coming off a high-scoring 5-4 loss against the Golden Knights on Monday.
The Canucks committed only one penalty in the game, holding Vegas without a power play goal. Four players found the net for the Canucks. Andrei Kuzmenko scored and provided an assist to share the scoring lead with Quinn Hughes, who had two assists.
Thatcher Demko only had 33 saves on 38 shots against (.868%) in the loss. Colorado won their third straight game, beating the Stars 3-2 (SO) on Monday. Alex Newhook and Cale Makar both scored once for the Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev had 22 saves.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Avalanche won two of the three games between the teams last season, although the Canucks were 3-1 victors in their final meeting in March. J.T. Miller (1G 1A) and Tanner Pearson (0G 2A) each had two points to lead Vancouver. Nazem Kadri scored Colorado’s only goal. Jaroslav Halak got the win, saving 32 of 33 shots (.969%).
FACING OFF
Vancouver is averaging 3.47 goals per game for the season, sixth in the NHL, and they are taking on an Avalanche team that is allowing just 2.47 goals a game (4th). Meanwhile, Colorado has found the net 3.47 times a game on average, eighth in the league, and the Canucks are allowing opponents to score 3.95 goals per game (30th).
The Avalanche’s 34.48% power play percentage is the best in the league, while Vancouver’s 29.23% conversion rate ranks fifth. While strong on the power play, Vancouver has been poor at penalty killing, as the away team owns the league’s second-lowest PK% at 65.57%. Colorado’s 74.55% ranks 26th in the NHL.
TOP PERFORMERS:
With 23 and 21 points this season, Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat have been the top skaters for the Canucks. Horvat is among the league leaders with his 15 goals (2nd).
In the net, Spencer Martin (4-1-1) is Vancouver’s top goaltender by goals against average. He has a 3.49 GAA and a .898% save percentage. Demko (2-8-2) leads the Canucks in games played in goal.
He has a GAA of 3.77 and a save percentage of .884%. Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon lead the Avalanche in scoring with 26 points apiece (9th in the league). Rantanen has 11 goals (6th in the league) and 15 assists in 17 games, while MacKinnon has a league-best 21 assists and five goals ().
Pavel Francouz (2-3-0) has the best goals against average for Colorado at 2.42. He has a save percentage of .925%. Georgiev (8-2-1) has played the most games in net for the Avalanche this season. He has a 2.45 GAA and a .930% save percentage, fourth-best in the league.
HOME AND AWAY
Vancouver is 3-6-2 away from home this season. Colorado is 4-2-1 at home this season.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
Colorado Avalanche (-210)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
