DENVER | The Canadian ends his five-game trip out west by visiting the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night.
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It’s a big order for a team that hasn’t had an easy ride so far with several tough opponents. And the statistics of the Avalanche, who will aim for a tenth victory in a row, are impressive.
Only one change will be made to the lineup: goalkeeper Samuel Montembeault will get the start.
St-Louis returns
After missing the first four games of this trip to the west, Martin St-Louis is back with his team for the final meeting. Perhaps the emotional charge associated with his return will transport his men against a more powerful team which is unbeatable at the moment.
Drouin is fine
In his first season in Colorado, Jonathan Drouin seems to be enjoying perfect happiness since he joined his old accomplice Nathan MacKinnon. In particular, he has eight points (2 goals, 6 assists) in his last four games. He has 46 points and, barring injury or an unlikely lethargy, he should beat his career best season which was 53 points, a high he reached twice, once in Tampa Bay and ‘other during his second season in Montreal.
MacKinnon the train
Nathan MacKinnon continues his work of destruction since the start of the season and is going at a breakneck pace with 122 points, one less than the top scorer on the circuit, Nikita Kucherov. This is already his best career season and with 44 goals on the clock, he can logically aspire to reach the magic number of 50. He has collected at least one point in the last 18 games and obtained one in the 34 games the Avalanche have played at home this year.
Georgiev eats it
Along with Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators, Alexandar Georgiev is the goalie who has seen the most action this season with 56 games played. He has a very good team in front of him, but he is not unworthy. However, among the 22 goalkeepers who have played at least 40 games this season, he comes in 12the rank for goals against average (2.82) and 16e rank for save percentage (.903).
Uncompromising at home
And to add another layer, the Avalanche left only crumbs to their opponents at Ball Arena. The Avs have a record of 28 wins and 6 losses at home. Their last loss at home was last month, a 4-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on February 24.