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COLORADO AVALANCHE (49-24-6) VS WINNIPEG JETS (49-24-6)

14:00 MDT | BALL ARENA | WATCH: ALTITUDE TV | LISTEN: 92.5 FM

Colorado wraps up its regular season series this Saturday against Winnipeg at Ball Arena. The Avalanche are 10-4-1 in their last 15 games and have the best home record in the NHL at 30-8-1 this campaign. The Jets enter tonight on a five-game winning streak, which comes after a six-game losing streak (March 21 – March 30). Both teams share identical records and points this season, with each battling to secure home-ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Latest results:

Apr 9, 2024, COL: 5 MIN: 2

Apr 11, 2024 WPG: 3 DAL: 0

A WILD NIGHT IN COLORADO

Colorado defeated the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night at Ball Arena to sweep the season series against them. The feat marks the Avalanche's first four-game winning streak against the Wild between January 6 and October 4, 2018. Nathan MacKinnon scored his third hat-trick of the campaign to move him into a five-way tie for third. in a season in franchise history. Cale Makar and Arturi Lehkonen found the back of the net to lead Colorado to a win over Minnesota in the final game of the 2023-24 season.

AVS ACHIEVEMENTS

Nathan MacKinnon recorded his seventh career hat trick, tied for fourth in franchise history with Mikko Rantanen, Peter Forsberg and Owen Nolan.

The four-point night boosted McKinnon's season total to 137 (51g/86a). Two shy of the Avalanche/Nordiques single-season scoring record held by Peter Stastny in 1981-82.

Cale Makar scored three points (1g/2a) on Tuesday and tied his own franchise record for the most points in a season by a defenseman with 87 (20g/67a).

Makar is the first blueliner in Avalanche/Nordiques history to achieve multiple 20-goal seasons. Among active NHL blueliners, only Brent Burns (3; 2013-14, 2015-17) and Erik Karlsson (3; 2013-15, 2022-23) have accomplished the feat.

Jonathan Drouin tied his single-season career highs in assists (37) and points (56) with three assists against the Wild. He also set new records for multi-assist games (6) and multi-point games (15) this campaign.

HISTORY

The Avalanche/Nordiques have a 28-23-1-6 record over the Jets/Thrashers. The franchise has a 17-8-0-4 record against them at home. This upcoming matchup will be the teams' third meeting this regular season, with the Jets winning the first two games (December 7, 2023; December 16, 2023). Colorado State is 5-4-1 in the last ten games against Winnipeg. That includes a three-game winning streak from January 6, 2022 to April 8, 2022.

WIN FOR WINNIPEG

The Jets shut out the Dallas Stars 3-0 on Thursday at the American Airlines Center. Winnipeg gave Connor Hellebuyck the night off and still Laurent Brossoit stopped all 24 shots. Nikolay Ehlers opened the scoring in the first period. David Gustafsson extended the streak for the Jets to end the middle frame. Mark Scheifele secured the win with an empty netter in the final period. With the win, Winnipeg entered Saturday in a tie with Colorado for second place in the Central Division.

MUST KNOW STATISTICS

Jonathan Drouin is three goals short of surpassing his career high of 21 goals set in 2016-17 with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Devon Toews is one point shy of 50 points in 2022-23 with Colorado.

Since joining the Avalanche, Casey Mittelstadt has nine points (4g/5a) in nine games, bringing his season total to 56. He is four shy of tying his career record with the Buffalo Sabers in 2022-23.

The Avalanche/Nordiques have scored 166 goals all-time against the Jets/Thrashers. That equates to 2.86 goals per game.

WINNIPEG CHOICE

Connor Hellebuyck is second among all netminders in save percentage this season with a .920.

The goaltender also ranks fourth in goals-against average (2.42) and seventh in shutouts (4).

Josh Morrissey is in the top 10 in points (8th) and assists (T-7th) this campaign. He scored 64 points (9g/55a) in 79 games.

Mark Scheifele is Winnipeg's leading scorer in 2023-24 with 70 points (25g/45a) in 72 games.

NUMBERS GAME

234

Colorado's defensemen set a single-season franchise record with 234 total points this season. Avs blueliners have scored 60 goals this season, just two shy of the franchise record set in 2021-22.

38th

Devon Toews notched his 38th multi-point game since joining the Avalanche, making him the seventh-most by a defenseman in franchise history. Toews passed Rob Blake for ninth in the franchise with 147 assists to a blueliner.

50

McKinnon became the sixth player in franchise history (10th) and the fourth player since the relocation (5th) to record a 50-goal campaign. His 51 goals this season is tied for eighth most in Avalanche/Nordiques history.

PREPARATION(S) LEAVING A MARK.

“That was the top performance you can put on in my books. We haven't talked about offense the last couple of days, so when I watched Nate play, I was watching how he was dialed in on the defensive end and he made the call.”

– Colorado State head coach Jared Bednar, Colorado State's Nathan MacKinnon