Back on the ball for a divisional duel

Utah Hockey Club (11.12.5) @ Colorado Avalanche (13.17.0)

7pm MT | ball arena | Clock: Altitude, My20, Altitude+ | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)

After a 4-1-0 loss in five games, the Avalanche return home to host the Utah Hockey Club for the first time in NHL history. This is the second of three meetings between the teams this season, as the Avs defeated Utah 5-1 in Salt Lake City on October 24th and will play again in Utah on December 27th.

Last result (COL): COL 6, PIT 2

Last result (UTA): MIN 5, UTA 4 (SUN)

Victory in Western Pennsylvania

The Avalanche defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-2 on Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena. Mikko Rantanen celebrated his 600th NHL game with the tenth hat trick of his career. He wasn’t the only Av to reach a milestone, as Nathan MacKinnon scored a goal and four assists, bringing him to 600 career assists.

MacKinnon used his elite speed to rush down the left side and scored first with a wrist shot from the left circle at 6:31 of the first period. This goal marked the 362nd scored by both MacKinnon and Rantanen, passing Anton and Peter Stastny as the most in franchise history. The Avs doubled their lead at 18:22 of the first when Rantanen took a nifty feed from Cale Makar, made several dekes and chipped the puck past Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry. Rantanen gave the Burgundy and Blue a 3-0 lead at 5:46 of the second period with his trademark Finnish touch, a one-timer in the right circle. The Penguins responded with two goals in the second period from Cody Glass at 7:21 and Michael Bunting at 18:53 to enter the second half trailing by just one.

With a goal early in the third period, the Avs dominated the final frame and outscored the Penguins 3-0. It started when Valeri Nichushkin slid down the right side and shot to the net to score his seventh goal of the year and double Colorado’s lead. Artturi Lehkonen became the third player in his line to score, scoring his eighth goal of the season with a shot from the right doorstep at 12:21 to give the Avs a commanding three-goal lead. Rantanen continued to help the Avs excel when he scored his third hat trick of the season with an unanswered goal at 15:08 of the third period. On the goal, MacKinnon recorded his fourth assist of the night and the 600th of his career. After a dominant final frame, the Avs won 6-2 and improved to 17-13-0.

Rocky Mountain Rock Stars

Nate the Great

MacKinnon became the fourth player in franchise history to record 600 assists and leads the NHL in helpers (36) and points (46).

Moose crossing

Rantanen recorded his third hat trick of the season, best in the league, while no other NHL player had more than one. He ranks third in the NHL in goals (18) and fourth in points (42).

All greetings Cale

Makar leads all NHL defensemen in assists (27) and points (36) and is tied for first in goals (9). He ranks fifth in assists among all NHL skaters.

All aboard!

As of November 23rd, Nichushkin ranks third in the NHL in goals scored (7). During this time he played 10 games and scored 11 points (7g/4a).

Up all night to get Lehky

Since making his 2024-25 season debut on November 5, Lehkonen is second on the team in goals (8), which ranks 17th among all NHL skaters during that span. He scored four goals in his last five games.

Points festival in Salt Lake City

Utah lost to the Minnesota Wild 5-4 in a shootout on Tuesday at the Delta Center. Utah’s Kevin Stenlund scored first at 13:46 of the first period before Minnesota scored two goals from Marat Khusnutdinov at 14:25 and Kirill Kaprizov at 15:01 of the second period to take a 2-1 lead into the third period. Clayton Keller tied the score with a power play goal at 4:42 of the third period before Marcus Johansson gave the Wild a 3-2 lead 77 seconds later at 5:39. Keller responded with his second power play goal of the game at 9:54 and Utah took a 4-3 lead with a goal from Juuso Valimaki at 11:45. Marco Rossi equalized the game and scored the last regular goal at 19:16. In the shootout, Minnesota’s Matt Boldy was the lone scorer, scoring in the third round.

Salt Lake City’s goal scorers

Keller leads Utah in points (26) and is tied for first in assists (17).

Dylan Guenther leads the team in goals (10) and is second in points (25).

Logan Cooley ranks third on the team in points (22) and is third in assists (15).

A numbers game

1

MacKinnon has scored 945 points, just one point behind Michel Goulet (946), the third-most in franchise history.

.944

Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood has posted a .944 save percentage in four appearances since joining the club.

102

Makar’s 102 regular-season multi-point games since entering the NHL are the most by a defenseman and 10 more than Roman Josi, who ranks second on the list.

Quote that left its mark

“He is (the) best player in the world. And (he) makes plays every night. (He) plays hard and (he) is very focused on getting better every day. And tonight he was back on his game and making plays.” (He) scored the early goal for us, which was huge for us. It’s fun to play with him.

– Mikko Rantanen on Nathan MacKinnon and his performance on Tuesday