Ball Arena will be the host to a matchup of the NHL’s top two defensive teams on Monday.
The Avalanche are tops in the league in that regard, as well as being the best of the bunch in total offense. Colorado has surrendered just 81 goals in 37 games thus far. Meanwhile, the visiting Los Angeles Kings are the only other team with fewer than 100 goals against, as they’ve allowed 92.
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Both teams are also coming off solid offensive outputs in their last game. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of game this turns out to be — whether offense will prevail or the stingy defenses play a larger role.
The Avalanche are coming off a wild 6-5 shootout victory against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Avs trailed 2-0, 4-2, and 5-4 but still managed three comebacks. The final game-tying goal from Artturi Lehkonen came with less than two minutes remaining with the goalie pulled.
Martin Necas had two goals, Nathan MacKinnon had three points, and Sam Malinski had three primary assists. Necas and MacKinnon also scored in the shootout.
Colorado is riding a 13-game home winning streak and has won seven straight overall. With just four games remaining before the halfway mark of the season, Jared Bednar’s club has just two regulation losses.
Their season began with a 4-1 victory over these very same Kings on the road.
L.A. is not having nearly as consistent a season. The Kings are 4-4-2 in their last 10 and have been without starting goalie Darcy Kuemper for two weeks and have had to rely on backup Anton Forsberg since then.
They also had quite a performance coming out of the holiday break, defeating the Anaheim Ducks 6-1. Before that, the Kings lost consecutive home games to Columbus and Seattle.
Forsberg has won two of three games since Kuemper went down with an injury. He’s 6-5-3 with a .905 save percentage and one shutout.
Forsberg will get the nod in goal again, and he’ll go up against Mackenzie Blackwood. Colorado’s starting goalie is 11-1-1 on the season with two shutouts and the league’s second best save percentage (.924).
The Avs are also making a change among their forward group. After trying Ross Colton at center to keep Gavin Brindley in the top nine, Bednar has shifted back to the bottom six he used to start the year. Brindley is on the fourth line with winger Joel Kiviranta and center Parker Kelly.
And the third line will go back to Jack Drury in the middle with Victor Olofsson and Colton on his wings.
