Avalanche at Kings
Two of the NHL’s hottest teams will hit the ice Monday when the Colorado Avalanche finish a three-game road trip against the Los Angeles Kings. The Avalanche are 8-1-1 in their last 10 after a 4-3 victory Sunday over the San Jose Sharks while the Kings sit at the bottom of the Western Conference standings, but have secured a season-high five wins in a row.
The line of Dustin Brown, Alex Iafallo and captain Anze Kopitar did the heavy lifting offensively for the Kings Saturday during a 7-3 victory over Minnesota as the trio combined for nine points that included Brown’s sixth career hat trick. “It’s not often our team gets to celebrate that many times,” Kings coach Todd McLellan told the media after his squad’s highest scoring output since their Oct. 12 home opener. “We’re winning the right way. It means we’re moving the needle forward.” With their win over the Sharks, the Avalanche kept pace with the Central Division leading St. Louis Blues as they sit two points behind the defending Stanley Cup champions with a game in hand and a scheduled matchup upcoming in the regular season finale April 4. Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog notched a goal and two assists Sunday to extend his point streak to eight straight contests - one shy of his career-best nine-game run during the 2013-14 season.
TIME: 10:30 p.m. ET. TV: Altitude 2, FS West
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (41-19-8): Nathan MacKinnon matched Landeskog with a goal and two helpers Sunday as the 24-year-old is tied for fourth league-wide with 93 points - six shy of his career-high set a season ago. Right wing Joonas Donskoi played his first four NHL seasons as a member of the Sharks (45 goals, 77 assists in 283 games) and scored the game-winning goal Sunday in his first contest in San Jose since leaving as a free agent this past offseason. Backup netminder Michael Hutchinson could start the second of a back-to-back Monday and is coming off stopping 17-of-18 shots in his Avalanche debut last Monday against the Red Wings.
ABOUT THE KINGS (27-35-6): After starting the calendar year by losing eight consecutive decisions (0-7-1), Jonathan Quick has gone 4-0-1 with a .957 save percentage and 1.35 goals-against average. With a third period assist Saturday, former Norris Trophy winner Drew Doughty recorded the 500th point of his career. Rookie Blake Lizotte scored a short-handed goal for the second time this season Saturday as the undrafted 22-year-old has amassed six goals and 17 assists while averaging 13:54 of ice time per game.
OVERTIME
1. The Kings are 6-1-1 in their last eight home games with wins in their last four.
2. Colorado gave up its first power play goal Sunday since Feb. 13 - ending a streak of 27 consecutive penalties killed over 11 games.
3. Brown will shoot for his 300th career goal Monday as his hat trick left him one shy of the mark.