Nathan MacKinnon has been a key to the success of the Colorado Avalanche all season.
However, he hasn’t been productive when facing the Dallas Stars on the road.
MacKinnon looks to change that and stay hot while trying to help the visiting Avalanche to a fourth straight victory on Thursday night against the Stars.
One of the NHL’s top scorers and Colorado’s leader in points with 61 (20 goals, 41 assists), MacKinnon recorded two assists before scoring in overtime during Tuesday’s 5-4 home victory against the New York Islanders.
The Avalanche are amid a 5-0-1 overall stretch and have won seven in a row at home but will try to post back-to-back road victories for the first time since Nov. 13 and Nov. 18.
“I feel our mindset and game has been very consistent,” said Colorado defenseman Cale Makar, who earned one of his three assists on MacKinnon’s game-winner.
“I don’t think guys are taking nights off. It’s fun to watch, and it’s fun to play games when the whole team is going like that.”
Since being held without a point during the Avalanche’s 6-3 victory at Dallas on Nov. 18, MacKinnon has a point in all but one of 22 games, totaling 14 goals and 27 assists during that span. In his past eight regular-season games at Dallas, MacKinnon has totaled just one point and has been blanked in the past three matchups.
Dallas had won a season-high six consecutive home games before falling 4-3 to middling Montreal on Tuesday. It was the first time in seven home games that the Stars failed to score four or more goals.
“A loss is a loss,” said Dallas coach Peter DeBoer, whose team is in third place and three points behind first-place Colorado in the crowded Central Division entering Wednesday.
“You look around the league and other teams around us are winning. … (Tuesday was) a game that we feel we should win.”
Dallas has yet to drop back-to-back home games in regulation this season and will attempt to prevent doing so on Thursday.
With Jake Oettinger still dealing with a lower-body injury, the Stars’ Scott Wedgewood could make his ninth consecutive start on Thursday. Wedgewood is 5-2-1 with a 2.86 goals-against average during his starting stretch.
Makar had three assists, while Valeri Nichushkin and Mikko Rantanen each recorded a goal and an assist against Oettinger and the Stars in November. Colorado’s Alexandar Georgiev made 25 saves in that contest and owns a 2.64 GAA during his current 5-0-1 stretch.
Nichushkin has totaled nine goals and eight assists in his past 11 contests overall. Meanwhile, Rantanen has two goals and six assists in his past five games vs. Dallas.
The Stars’ Tyler Seguin scored twice against Colorado in November but has recorded points in just one of his past five games overall. Jason Robertson has three goals and seven assists during his seven-game point streak.
Robertson has posted five goals and seven assists in eight career regular-season matchups with the Avalanche.
–Field Level Media
