C O L O R A D O A V A L A N C H E P R E S E A S O N G A M E N O T E S Thursday, September 28, 2017 Avalanche at Vegas Golden Knights --- T-Mobile Arena

Tonight: The closes out its preseason slate against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The game can be watched live on Altitude TV beginning at 8 p.m. MT. It’s Colorado’s second and final meeting of the preseason against the Golden Knights, who visited the Pepsi Center on Sept. 19 in the Avalanche’s exhibition opener. The Avs are 3-2- 0 through their first five preseason contests with two wins over the Dallas Stars and one over the Minnesota Wild. Colorado’s 2017 exhibition slate features three home games and three road contests against Minnesota, Dallas and the Golden Knights. The Avs open the regular season on Oct. 5 at the New York Rangers with the home opener slated for Oct. 11 against the .

Tune In: All preseason and regular season games can be heard on the Altitude Radio Network, with Altitude Sports Radio (KKSE 950AM) serving as the flagship home of Avalanche hockey in 2017-18. Marc Moser will call the action for all six exhibition games and all 82 regular season contests.

Date Opponent Time (MT) Location Result Tue., Sept. 19, 2017 Vegas Golden Knights 7 p.m. Pepsi Center L, 4-1 Thu., Sept. 21, 2017 Dallas Stars 7 p.m. Pepsi Center W, 5-1 Sat., Sept. 23, 2017 @Minnesota Wild 4 p.m. Xcel Energy Center L, 2-1 Sun., Sept. 24, 2017 Minnesota Wild 5 p.m. Pepsi Center W, 5-1 Mon., Sept. 25, 2017 @Dallas Stars 6:30 p.m. American Airlines Center W, 4-2 Thu., Sept. 28, 2017 @ Vegas Golden Knights 8 p.m. T-Mobile Arena

Second Preseason Tilt With Vegas: Sunday’s contest is the second and final meeting of the preseason between Colorado and Vegas, who faced off on Sept. 19 at Pepsi Center. The Golden Knights won the first contest, backed by two-point nights from Tomas Hyka and Jason Garrison. Nathan MacKinnon scored the lone for the Avalanche, which came on the power play late in the second period. Spencer Martin was in net and finished with 24 saves. The Avs and Golden Knights will meet for the first time in the 2017-18 regular season on Oct. 27 in Vegas.

Avs 3-2 In Preseason Play: The Avalanche enters Thursday’s contest with a 3-2-0 record in exhibition play with two wins over Dallas and one over Minnesota. Colorado played three games in three nights from Sept. 23-25, which included a home-and-home set against the Wild before traveling to Dallas on Monday. With six points through five preseason games, Colorado sits in a four-way tie for first in the Central Division (Dallas, Minnesota, St. Louis).

Nathan MacKinnon’s five points (4g, 1a) is tops among Avalanche skaters, while newcomer Alexander Kerfoot ranks second on the team with four points (2g, 2a). Mikko Rantanen (2g, 1a) and Nail Yakupov (0g, 3a) have each added three points.

MacKinnon, Varlamov Among Preseason Leaders: Nathan MacKinnon’s four goals in the preseason leads the Avs and is tied for second in the league. His three power-play tallies are also tied for second among NHL skaters. Semyon Varlamov has posted a 1.29 goals against average in the three games he’s appeared in this preseason, which ranks sixth among all NHL netminders.

2017-18 Preseason Game-by-Game Summary Scoring by Period Shots by Period Date Opp. 1 2 3 OT F 1 2 3 OT F PP PK Pen/Min GWG (Saves-Shots) 9/19 vs. VGK 3 0 1 - 4 13 11 4 - 28 2-6 7-8 9-18 J. Marchessault M. Lagace (10-11)/O. Dansk (18-18) COL 0 1 0 - 1 5 6 18 - 29 1-8 4-6 7-14 S. Martin (24-28) 9/21 vs. DAL 0 0 1 1 9 8 5 22 1-6 7-9 12-30 K. Lehtonen (16-20)/L. Bow (7-8) COL 3 1 1 5 8 12 8 28 2-9 5-6 9-24 S. Andrighetto S. Varlamov(21-22) 9/23 @ MIN 1 1 0 2 5 10 9 24 2-5 8-8 10-23 M. Dumba D. Dubnyk (28-29) COL 0 1 0 1 12 12 5 29 0-8 3-5 7-17 J. Bernier(22-24) 9/24 vs. MIN 1 0 0 1 7 8 14 29 1-6 7-9 9-18 S. Michalek(17-22)/N. Svedberg(17-17) COL 0 2 3 5 10 14 15 39 2-9 5-6 6-12 R. Grimaldi S. Varlamov(28-29) 9/25 @DAL 1 0 1 2 9 17 10 36 0-4 3-3 3-6 B. Bishop (20-23) COL 1 2 1 4 10 9 5 24 0-3 4-4 4-8 A. Kerfoot J. Bernier(25-26)/S. Varlamov(9-10) 9/28 @VGK COL Burgundy/White Game: The Avalanche hosted its annual Burgundy/White Game on Sunday, Sept. 17 at Magness Arena on the University of Denver campus. The White team earned a 6-2 win, backed by a three-point day from Travis Barron (2g, 1a) and two tallies from J.T. Compher. Andrew Agozzino (1g, 1a) and Nail Yakupov (0g, 2a) each contributed two points in the victory. The White team raced out to a 2-0 lead before the midway point of the first period and held a 3-1 lead at the first intermission. Each team found the back of the net once in the middle frame, and the White team extended its lead in the final stanza, scoring twice while holding the Burgundy team scoreless. Sven Andrighetto and David Warsofsky were the goal scorers for Burgundy, which held a 29-27 edge in shots. Spencer Martin (10-11) and Sam Brittain (17-18) combined to stop 27-of-29.

Transactions: On Sept. 27, defenseman Jared Cowen was released from his Professional Tryout (PTO). On September 26, Colorado reassigned forwards Reid Petryk (San Antonio, AHL) and Dominic Toninato (San Antonio, AHL) and defenseman Conor Timmins (Sault Ste. Marie, OHL). On Monday, Sept. 25, the Avalanche reassigned the following players to San Antonio (AHL): forwards Andrew Agozzino, Alex Belzile, Felix Girard, Rocco Grimaldi, Brendan Ranford, Brady Shaw, Shawn St-Amant and Trent Vogelhuber, defensemen Nolan De Jong, Mason Geertsen and Jesse Graham, and goaltender Spencer Martin.

On Friday, Sept. 22, Colorado reassigned forwards Travis Barron (Ottawa, OHL), J.C. Beaudin (San Antonio, AHL) and Julien Nantel (San Antonio, AHL). On Wednesday, Sept. 20, Colorado reassigned defensemen Gage Ausmus (San Antonio, AHL) and Nicolas Meloche (San Antonio, AHL) and forward Ty Lewis (Brandon, WHL). On Monday, Sept. 18, the Avalanche reassigned defensemen Josh Anderson (Prince George, WHL) and Tom Gregoire (Sherbrooke, QMJHL), forwards Hugo Roy (Sherbrooke, QMJHL) and Ben Storm (San Antonio, AHL) and goaltender Sam Brittain (San Antonio, AHL).

2017 Prospect Showcase: The Avs traveled to San Jose to participate in the 2017 Prospect Showcase hosted by the Sharks at Solar4America Ice. Colorado finished 0-2-1 in games against the Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes and host San Jose. Alexander Kerfoot (0g, 4a) and Hugo Roy (2g, 2a) led the Avalanche with four points each in the tournament, while Shawn St-Amant (0g, 3a) and Tyson Jost (0g, 3a) notched three points apiece.

2017 Prospect Showcase Scoring Summary 9/9 vs. San Jose L, 7-4 9/11 vs. Arizona OTL, 4-3 9/12 vs. Anaheim L, 5-3 Player G-A-P Player G-A-P Player G-A-P Shawn St-Amant 0-3-3 Alexander Kerfoot 0-2-2 Tyson Jost 0-2-2 Hugo Roy 1-1-2 Sergei Boikov 1-0-1 Hugo Roy 1-0-1 Chris Bigras 0-2-2 Nolan De Jong 1-0-1 Brady Shaw 1-0-1 J.T. Compher 1-0-1 A.J. Greer 1-0-1 J.T. Compher 1-0-1 Nicolas Meloche 1-0-1 Tyson Jost 0-1-1 A.J. Greer 0-1-1 Gustav Olhaver 1-0-1 Hugo Roy 0-1-1 Nicolas Meloche 0-1-1 Alexander Kerfoot 0-1-1 Ty Lewis 0-1-1 Alexander Kerfoot 0-1-1 Ty Lewis 0-1-1

2017-18 Regular Season Schedule: Colorado will open on the road for only the third time in the last 12 seasons (also 2012-13 and 2014-15). The Avs will play their first three games on the road for the first time since 2000-01, when they opened with a four-game road trip… The Avalanche’s 2017-18 schedule is highlighted by the 2017 SAP NHL Global Series, which features a pair of regular-season games against the in Stockholm, Sweden, on Friday, Nov. 10, and Saturday, Nov. 11… The Avalanche’s longest homestand is six games from Dec. 27 to Jan. 6, the club’s longest home stay since 2013-14 (seven). The Avs’ longest road trip is six games from Jan. 22 to Feb. 3, but the team will return home in the middle of that journey for the All-Star break.

Pronunciation Guide Mark Barberio bahr-BAIR-ee-oh Tyson Jost JOH-st J.C. Beaudin boh-DEHN Nicolas Meloche meh-LAWSH Alex Belzile bell-ZEEL Andrei Mironov mih-RAW-nawv Jonathan Bernier BUHRN-yay Matt Nieto NEE-eh-toh Sergei Boikov boi-KAWV Reid Petryk PEH-TRIHK Chris Bigras bee-GRAH Mikko Rantanen MEE-koh ran-TA-nehn Joe Cannata ka-NA-tuh Duncan Siemens SEE-muhns Blake Comeau KOH-moh Shawn St-Amant Saint-Amah Jared Cowen KOW-ehn Semyon Varlamov sehm-YAWN vahr-LAW-mawv Nolan De Jong de-YOUNG Trent Vogelhuber VOH-guhl-hew-buhr Matt Duchene DOO-shayn Nail Yakupov NAY-uhl YA-kuh-pawv Mason Geertsen GUHRT-zen Nikita Zadorov za-DOHR-awv Tom Gregoire greg-Wah