Avalanche at Flames
The line of Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon has combined for 24 of Colorado's 41 goals, and hopes to stay hot as the Avalanche try to solve the Flames in Calgary on Thursday. Rantanen leads the NHL with 21 points and 16 assists while MacKinnon (18 points) and Landeskog (16) are also in the top 10 with Landeskog's 10 goals tied for third.
MacKinnon finished second in Hart Trophy voting last season but Rantanen, the 10th overall pick in the 2015 draft, is poised to become one of the NHL's elite after a breakout 2017-18 produced 29 goals and 84 points. "I knew I could play in the NHL but I never thought I would be playing on a line like this,'' Rantanen told the Denver Post. "I can't deny. It's been a lot fun.'' Calgary has a productive top line of its own in Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm, who have scored 19 of the Flames' 41 goals. Calgary defeated Colorado 3-2 on Gaudreau's goal 46 seconds into overtime Oct. 13 for its sixth victory in the last seven meetings.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Altitude (Colorado), Sportsnet One (Calgary)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (7-3-2): There is a significant drop in production after the No. 1 line as defenseman Tyson Barrie has nine points - all assists - and center Carl Soderberg owns four goals and seven points. Tyson Jost, the 10th overall pick in the 2016 draft, missed Saturday's 3-2 loss at Minnesota with a concussion but is expected to make the trip. Semyon Varlamov (4-2-2, 1.62 goals-against average, .950 save percentage), who has lost four of his last five starts (1-2-2), is expected to start Thursday.
ABOUT THE FLAMES (7-5-1): Gaudreau, who has six goals in 13 career games versus Colorado, leads the team with 16 points and is tied for the club lead in assists with defenseman Mark Giordano (10). Lindholm boasts a team-high eight goals and hasn't gone two straight games without a goal - he was limited to an assist in Tuesday's 2-1 overtime victory at Buffalo - while Monahan is riding a four-game point streak (goal, five assists). Mike Smith (4-4-1, 3.55, .878) could be snapping out of his early season slump as he made 24 saves in Monday's 3-1 victory at Toronto after stopping 65 of 78 shots in his previous three games - all losses (0-2-1).
OVERTIME
1. Rantanen's 21 points in October tied the Avalanche record set by general manager Joe Sakic in 1996.
2. Rantanen (plus-14), Landeskog (14) and MacKinnon (12) are 1-2-3 in the NHL in plus-minus while Giordano is tied for second among defenseman at plus-8.
3. Colorado has killed 16-of-18 penalties over its last five games while Calgary is 3-for-36 on the power play in its past 10 contests.