Avalanche at Kings
The Colorado Avalanche look to enter the All-Star break with five wins in their last six games when they visit the Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. Colorado had its four-game winning streak snapped with Tuesday's 6-1 loss at San Jose, which dropped the club to 1-1-0 on its three-game road trip.
Nathan MacKinnon is tied with Matt Duchene for the team lead with 40 points after scoring for the second time in three games Tuesday. Los Angeles avoided its first three-game skid since the beginning of the season by edging the Sharks 3-2 in overtime on the road Sunday. Vincent Lecavalier has rediscovered his scoring touch on the West Coast after being acquired from Philadelphia, scoring a goal in four of his last six games. The Avalanche and Kings split their first two meetings this season, with each club winning at home.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, Sportsnet
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (26-22-3): Roman Will was recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League on Tuesday and made his NHL debut that evening, allowing one goal on three shots in one period after relieving Calvin Pickard. Cody McLeod appeared in his 600th game Tuesday, joining Milan Hejduk (1,020), Joe Sakic (870) and Adam Foote (763) as the only players to reach the plateau with the Avalanche. The exclusive club likely will have a fifth member soon as Alex Tanguay has appeared in 586 contests with Colorado.
ABOUT THE KINGS (30-15-3): Milan Lucic, who is fourth on the team in both goals (12) and points (29), will return to the lineup after serving a one-game suspension for roughing Arizona defenseman Kevin Connauton on Saturday. The 27-year-old left wing tops Los Angeles with five game-winning goals — two shy of his career high set in 2010-11 with Boston. Tyler Toffoli leads the team with 22 goals but enters Wednesday with a four-game drought.
OVERTIME
1. Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov will miss his second straight game as he attends to a legal matter in Denver.
2. Los Angeles C Jeff Carter has gone five games without a goal and has scored only two during his last 16 contests.
3. Colorado C Mikhail Grigorenko sat out Tuesday's game with an illness and is questionable to face the Kings.