Avalanche vs. Senators
The Ottawa Senators will try for their fourth straight victory over the Colorado Avalanche when the clubs conclude their NHL Global Series on Saturday in Stockholm. Mark Stone scored twice, including the winner 59 seconds into overtime, in Ottawa's 4-3 victory Friday - the Senators' seventh game decided after regulation this season (2-0-5) - in a contest that featured each teams' Swedish captain hit the scoresheet.
Ottawa's Erik Karlsson, who hails from Landsbro, Sweden, had two assists, including one on Stone's OT tally, giving him 15 points (14 assists) in his last nine games and 13 points (12 assists) in 11 games versus Colorado. The Avalanche's Gabriel Landeskog recorded an assist and has seven points (three goals) in his last seven contests. Friday's game also marked the Senators debut of Matt Duchene, who was acquired from Colorado in a three-team blockbuster trade. Duchene centered the top line with Stone and Mike Hoffman, and was a minus-1 with two shots on goal.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, NHL Network, Sportsnet, RDS (Ottawa), Altitude (Colorado)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (8-6-1): Rookie Alexander Kerfoot recorded his team-high sixth goal of the season and an assist Friday, giving him five points (three goals) in his last three games. Red-hot Nathan MacKinnon scored his fifth goal Friday and has 10 of his 15 points (four goals) in his last five contests. Rookie defenseman Samuel Girard, acquired from Nashville in Sunday's trade, had an assist and was a plus-1 in 21 minutes, 55 seconds in his Colorado debut.
ABOUT THE SENATORS (7-3-5): Stone has a team-high 11 goals after his second multi-tally game of the season and leads the club with 18 points. Karlsson is next on the team in points (15) despite missing the first five games of the season while recovering from off-season ankle surgery. Defenseman Johnny Oduya, who was born in Stockholm, had an assist and was a plus-2 on Friday.
OVERTIME
1. Avalanche C Carl Soderberg, who was born in Malmo, Sweden, did not make the trip as his wife is due to give birth in Denver. Swedes Anton Lindholm (broken jaw) and D Patrik Nemeth (undisclosed injury) were also out of the Colorado lineup.
2. Landeskog (born Nov. 23, 1992) and Ottawa D Fredrik Claesson (Nov. 24) entered the world one day apart in Stockholm. Claesson had a goal and five shots Friday.
3. The Avalanche are 6-for-16 on the power play over their last five games after going 1-for-2 on Friday while the Senators yielded a power-play goal for the fifth straight game.