A showdown with the Flyers

Colorado Avalanche (9-9-0) @ Philadelphia Flyers (8-8-2)

5:00 PM MT | Wells Fargo Center | Watch: Altitude, NHL Network, Altitude+ | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)

The Avalanche begin a four-game road trip beginning Monday against the Flyers in Philadelphia. This is the first of two games between these teams as they meet in Denver on February 2.

Last result (COL): WSH 5, COL 2

Last result (PHI): BUF 0, PHI 4

Defeat against Washington DC team

The Avalanche lost 5-2 to the Washington Capitals on Friday at Ball Arena. Parker Kelly opened the scoring with his first goal of the season to put the Avs up 1-0 at the 2:00 mark of the first period. Washington answered with three straight goals thanks to Jakub Vrana and a pair from Connor McMichael. The Burgundy and Blue got one back when Nikolai Kovalenko scored his second goal of the season at 4:03 of the middle frame. The Capitals scored the final two goals of the game, with Jakob Chychrun scoring at 9:21 of the middle frame and Rasmus Sandin adding an empty net tally at 19:57 of the third period.

Dominate the leaderboards

Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL in points (33) and assists (26).

Cale Makar leads NHL defensemen in goals (6), assists (19) and points (25). He ranks eighth among all NHL skaters in points.

Mikko Rantanen is tied for fourth in the NHL in goals (12) and eighth in points (25).

History

In 43 previous regular season meetings, the Avalanche had a 24-13-6 record against the Flyers. The teams split the season series in 2023-24, with the Avalanche winning seven of the last 10 meetings dating back to the start of the 2018-19 season.

A big win against Buffalo

The Flyers defeated the Buffalo Sabers 5-2 on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center, where former Av and current Flyer defenseman Erik Johnson skated in his 1,000th NHL game. The Flyers took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission with goals from Tyson Foerster at 13:57 and Travis Sanheim at 16:01. Philadelphia doubled the lead with two more goals in the second period from Egor Zamula at 2:08 and Travis Konecny ​​at 17:07. In the third period, the Sabers scored two goals from Rasmus Dahlin at 10:06 and Ryan McLeod at 6:55 before Konecny ​​scored an empty net goal at 7:42.

Productive against Philly

MacKinnon scored 16 points (5g/11a) in 18 games against the Flyers, including five points (3g/2a) in three games last season.

Makar has five points (3g/2a) in seven games against Philadelphia.

Rantanen has recorded 15 points (10g/5a) in 15 games against the Flyers, including a pair of goals in two games last season.

Frequent Flyer Scorers

Konecny ​​leads the Flyers in goals (11), assists (11) and points (22).

Rookie Matvei Michkov is second on the team in goals (6), assists (9) and points (15).

Sanheim leads Flyers blueliners in goals (5), assists (6) and points (11).

A numbers game

31

Colorado’s power play converts at 31%, which ranks third in the NHL.

8

Rantanen’s eight goals in his last six games are the most of any player in a six-game span this season.

726

MacKinnon has racked up 726 points (267g/459a) since the start of the 2017-18 season, which ranks him third in the league over that period.

Quote that left a mark

‘We have been home to some good host families. To go east you have to see some different buildings, different environments, different atmosphere and (and) different challenges from those teams. I don’t mind the timing of this road trip at all, especially with all the boys coming back.

— Jared Bednar on the team’s upcoming road trip