AVALANCHE NOTES CENTRAL DIVISION STANDINGS LEAGUE DEBUTS: With Logan O’Connor making his NHL debut on TEAM GP W L OT PTS Monday night against the Kings, four players have now made their first Winnipeg Jets 39 25 12 2 52 NHL appearance for the Avalanche in 2018-19. Defenseman Ryan Graves Nashville Predators 40 23 15 2 48 (Dec. 27 at Vegas), goaltender Pavel Francouz (Dec. 22 at Arizona) and forward Sheldon Dries (Oct. 4 vs. Minnesota) all skated in their first NHL Colorado Avalanche 40 19 13 8 46 games this season. O’Connor also became the seventh former Univer- Dallas Stars 40 20 16 4 44 sity of Denver player to play a regular-season game for the Avs, joining Minnesota Wild 38 18 17 3 39 Antti Laaksonen (2005-07), Mark Rycroft (2006-07), Paul Stastny (2006- 14), Aaron MacKenzie (2008-09), Joe Colborne (2016-17) and Patrick Chicago Blackhawks 41 15 20 6 36 Wiercioch (2016-17). St. Louis Blues 37 15 18 4 34
THIRD PERIOD SCORING: Mikko Rantanen (5-23-28), Gabriel Landesk- og (16-7-23) and Nathan MacKinnon (10-13-23) are the top three-ranked AVALANCHE LEADERS players in the league in third-period scoring. Landeskog also leads the Category Player No. NHL in goals in the final frame of regulation with 16. Goals Gabriel Landeskog 24 GOAL LEADERS: Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon are tied for Nathan MacKinnon 24 the team lead with 24 goals this season, tied for fourth in the NHL and the Assists Mikko Rantanen 45 second-highest total through 40 games since the team relocated to Den- ver (Joe Sakic tallied 27 goals through 39 contests in 1995-96). Points Mikko Rantanen 62 Power-Play Goals Gabriel Landeskog 8 “It was awesome. I mean, it was a good feeling to get there in my Mikko Rantanen 8 first, but obviously a bitter feeling having the outcome that we Shorthanded Goals J.T. Compher 2 had. I thought we worked hard the whole game and had a good Penalty Minutes Ian Cole 56 comeback there, but unfortunately we couldn’t get the job done Time on Ice/Game Nathan MacKinnon 22:04 at the end, so we just have to build on that.” — Avalanche right wing Logan O’Connor on making his NHL Game-Winning Goals Gabriel Landeskog 7 debut on Monday night Goals-Against Average Semyon Varlamov 2.80 Save Percentage Semyon Varlamov .912 UPCOMING GAMES
Wednesday, January 2 vs. San Jose Sharks PLAYER SPOTLIGHT Pepsi Center, 7:30 p.m. MT, TV: NBCSN, Radio: 92.5 FM The Avalanche plays its first game of 2019 on Wednesday, as it Tyson Barrie hosts the San Jose Sharks at Pepsi Center. It’s the first of three Position: Defense meetings between the Avs and Sharks this season and San Jose’s Height: 5’10 only trip to the Mile High City. Colorado is 41-33-12 overall against Weight: 190 lbs. the Sharks since moving to Denver, including a 24-13-6 mark on Shoots: Right home ice. Born: July 26, 1991 Birthplace: Victoria, BC Friday, January 4 vs. New York Rangers Pepsi Center, 7 p.m. MT, TV: Altitude, Radio: 92.5 FM Colorado closes out its four-game homestand against the New Barrie registered his 208th career assist against the Black- York Rangers on Friday night, the second and final matchup be- hawks on Saturday, passing John-Michael Liles to become tween the clubs in 2018-19. The Rangers won the first meeting, the franchise’s all-time leader in assists by a defenseman, 3-2, in a shootout on Oct. 16 at Madison Square Garden. The Avs reaching the milestone in 82 fewer games (441). He sits one were 2-0-0 against New York last season point shy of tying Liles (275) for the most points by a defen- seman in franchise history. UPCOMING SCHEDULE Day Date Location Time Tuesday Jan. 1 Practice at Family Sports 11 a.m. Wednesday Jan. 2 Morning skate at Pepsi Center 10:30 a.m. Game #41 vs. San Jose Sharks 7:30 p.m. Thursday Jan. 3 No practice Friday Jan. 4 Morning skate at Pepsi Center 10:30 a.m. Game #42 vs. New York Rangers 7 p.m. Saturday Jan. 5 Practice at Family Sports 11 a.m. Sunday Jan. 6 Practice at Family Sports 11 a.m. *All practice dates/times are subject to change, all times mountain