Ottawa Senators (4-3-0) @ Colorado Avalanche (4-4-0)

7 p.m. MT | Ball Arena | Watch: Altitude TV, Altitude+ | Listen: Radio Sports Altitude (92.5 FM)

The Avalanche return to Ball Arena and look to extend their winning streak by hosting the Ottawa Senators. This will be the first of two meetings between the clubs this season as Ottawa hosts Colorado on March 20.

Last result (OTT): OTT 4, VGK 6

Last result (COL): COL 5, UTA 1

Avalanche vs. Utah Hockey Club 10.24.24 Recap

The Avalanche won their fourth straight game Thursday, beating the Utah Hockey Club 5-1 in Salt Lake City. Ross Colton opened the scoring on the power play at 9:54 of the first period with his seventh goal of the season. Cale Makar extended his point streak to eight games with his third goal of the season to give Colorado a 2-0 lead at 18:20 of the first period. The Avalanche took a 3-0 lead at 14:25 of the second period when Casey Mittelstadt scored his fifth goal of the season. At 17:33 of the second period, Ivan Ivan gave the Avalanche a 4-0 lead on the power play with the first goal of his NHL career. Utah’s Lawson Crouse got his team on the board at 15:28 of the third period. In response, the Burgundy and Blue got their fifth goal of the night from Joel Kiviranta at 16:07 in the final third.

AVS achievements

With his goal Thursday, Makar became the seventh defenseman in NHL history to score at least one point in each of the first eight games of the season. Makar is tied for second in the NHL in points with 15 (3g/12a).

Nathan MacKinnon also started the season on an eight-game point streak and is tied for ninth in the NHL in points with 13 (3g/10a) with teammate Mikko Rantanen (4g/9a).

The next game MacKinnon plays will be the 800th of his NHL career. He posted 912 points (338g/574a) in 799 games played.

History

In the previous 41 meetings between the clubs, the Avalanche are 23-14-4 against the Senators. Additionally, in their last 10 meetings, Colorado is 8-1-1 and has won their last four games against Ottawa. In 2023-24, the Avalanche won 6-4 at Ball Arena and 7-4 at Canadian Tire Centre.

A goal fest in Vegas

The Senators lost to the Vegas Golden Knights 6-4 on Friday. Adam Gaudette and Claude Giroux scored to give Ottawa a 2-0 lead in the first period. Later in the period, Vegas responded with goals from Nicolas Roy and Nicolas Hague before Drake Batherson gave Ottawa a 3-2 lead late in the first period. Ivan Barbashev tied the score at 6:40 of the second period before Gaudette scored his second of the night at 17:44 of the second period to give Ottawa a 4-3 lead. Vegas scored all three goals in the third period with goals from Tomas Hertl, Keegan Kolesar and Barbashev to earn a 6-4 victory.

Statistics to know

Over his last three starts, Justus Annunen is 3-0-0 with a .949 save percentage, stopping 75 of 79 shots.

In 19 career games against the Senators, MacKinnon has 31 points (9g/22a), including seven points (4g/3a) in two games last season.

Rantanen has 19 points (10g/9a) in 14 games against Ottawa, including four goals in two games in 2023-24.

Senators in figures

Batherson leads the Senators with five goals and is tied for first on the team with nine points.

Tim Stützle had three goals and six assists to move him into a tie with Batherson for the team lead in points.

Senators captain Brady Tkachuk is second on the team with eight points (3g/5a).

Anton Forsberg leads Ottawa goaltenders with four games played and has a 2-1-0 record with a .904 save percentage and 2.94 goals-against average.

Numbers game

1

Since October 18, when the Avalanche began their four-game winning streak, they are tied for first in goals allowed per game, allowing 1.75 over that span.

8

The Avalanche are tied for eighth in the NHL in goals per game with 3.63.

39.3

Colorado has the third-best power play in the league at 39.3%. They converted 11 of 28 power play opportunities.

Quote that left a mark

“He gets better every night. Just steady on both sides of the puck. He finds a way to contribute on the offensive end. He’s on a really good shift on Kiviranta’s goal late, he gets a power play goal early. (He) spends more time in the offensive zone than in the D zone. He looked really good. He has grown well as a young player at the start of the season.

— Jared Bednar on rookie Ivan Ivan’s performance