Anaheim Ducks (2-1-0) @ Colorado Avalanche (0-4-0)

7:00 p.m. MT | ball arena | Watch: Altitude TV | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)

The Avalanche will host Military Appreciation Night as they complete their first homestand of the season against the Anaheim Ducks. This will be the first of three meetings between the clubs this season as they meet in Anaheim on December 20th and April 13th.

Latest result (ANA): UTA 4, ANA 5

Last result (COL): BOS 5, COL 3

Avalanche vs Bruins 10/16/24 Summary

The Avalanche lost 5-3 to the Bruins on Wednesday at Ball Arena. Boston opened the scoring with a Cole Koepke deflection at 13:46 of the first period. But just 81 seconds later, Ross Colton scored on the power play to tie the game. The Bruins countered with three straight goals from David Pastrnak, Hampus Lindholm and Charlie Coyle. At 11:15 of the second period, Cale Makar scored his first goal of the season on a power play one-timer. At 4:52 of the third period, Mikko Rantanen scored his fourth goal of the season with a slapshot in the right circle on the power play, cutting Boston's lead to one. John Beecher scored the final goal of the game on an empty-net goal at 17:59 of the third period, giving the Bruins a 6-4 victory.

Avs successes

Three Avalanche players are among the top performers in the NHL. Makar is in second place with eight points (1g/7a), while Rantanen (4g/3a) and MacKinnon (1g/6a) are in sixth place with seven points.

The Avalanche have the best power play in the league at 50%. They scored on six of their 12 power play chances. Rantanen leads the team with two power play goals, while MacKinnon, Colton, Makar and Casey Mittelstadt each have one.

Story

In 111 previous regular-season meetings, the Avalanche had a 55-36-20 record against the Ducks, including a 13-2-2 record since the start of the 2021 season and a 2-0-1 record in the 2023 season. 24. Last season, the Avalanche won both games at Ball Arena and lost in overtime to the Ducks at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

An overtime thriller

The Ducks defeated the Utah Hockey Club 5-4 in overtime at Honda Center on Wednesday to pick up their second win of the season. Troy Terry scored the first goal early in the first period before Utah took the lead with goals from Jack McBain and Barrett Hayton. The Ducks responded with two goals from Robby Fabbri and Pavel Mintyukov to give them a 3-2 lead early in the third period. Utah would take a 4-3 lead on goals from Michael Kesselring and Clayton Keller before Mintyukov tied the game with his second goal of the night at 14:55 of the third period. Just 54 seconds into overtime, Leo Carlsson scored the game-winning goal for the Ducks.

Statistics you should know

In 32 games against the Ducks, MacKinnon has recorded 39 points (15g/24a), including six points (1g/5a) in three games during the 2023-24 season.

Rantanen has 28 points (15g/13a) in 27 games against Anaheim, while Makar has 14 points (1g/13a) in 14 contests.

Ducks in numbers

Through three games, six players are tied for the team lead with two points: Terry (2g), Mintyukov (2g), Carlsson (1g/1a), Trevor Zegras (1g/1a), Mason McTavish (2a) and Brock McGinn (2a) .

Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal has compiled a 2-0-0 record with a save percentage of .933 and a goals-against average of 1.99.

Numbers game

10

Calum Ritchie is tied for first among NHL rookies with 10 shots on goal. He scored his first career NHL goal on Monday night.

4

Matthew Stienburg became the fourth Avalanche player to make his NHL regular-season debut in 2024-25. He popped up in the boxing rankings and recorded a fight major in the second period when he fought Nikita Zadorov.

199

Mittelstadt enters the game with 199 points (69g/130a) in 361 games, including 13 points (7g/6a) in 22 games with the Avalanche.

Quote that left its mark

“Just him running over guys all the time is definitely something, at least since (Landeskog) left we haven't really had him in charge. So it's pretty awesome out there. I think the guys definitely need to keep their heads up when he's on the ice. And obviously it’s all over the internet.”

• Nathan MacKinnon on Ross Colton playing on his line