A four-game road trip throughout the Eastern Conference Metropolitan Division begins for the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday when it plays at the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
For the Avs (3-1-1), Tuesday’s contest is a chance to rebound from a tough overtime loss to the visiting Calgary Flames on Saturday, one in which a lack of killer instinct in the second and third periods cost the home club.
“We should be as happy as can be getting a point out of that,” head coach Jared Bednar told the media after the defeat.
For the struggling Rangers (1-4-0), the match offers an opportunity to stack up against one of the top teams in the west while continuing to improve. The objective will be to stymie Colorado’s top line while also limiting bad decisions that have proven costly this season.
The Avs are 20-13-1 all-time versus New York, including 11-6-1 on the road.
Semyon Varlamov will get the start in net for Colorado.
What to watch for when the Avs play the Rangers:
MacKinnon is fire on ice. Colorado’s top line has had an explosive start to the season and shows no sign of slowing. Nathan MacKinnon has seven points (six goals, one assist) in his first five games, tying Mats Sundin for the franchise’s longest goal streak to start a season, and his linemate Mikko Rantanen leads the club with eight points (one goal, seven helpers).
New Av. The Avalanche bolstered its forward depth Monday when it acquired Austrian forward Marko Dano from the Winnipeg Jets via waivers. Dano had been reassigned to the Manitoba Moose, Winnipeg’s AHL affiliate, on Sunday to make room for Nic Petan. Selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round (27th overall) at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Dano has accumulated 45 points (19 goals, 26 assists) in 130 career games with the Blue Jackets, Chicago Blackhawks and Jets. Dano brings experience to Colorado’s fourth line and could slot in for either Vladislav Kamenev or Sheldon Dries, who was recalled from the Colorado Eagles on Sunday.
Wearing a different sweater. Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich could find himself in the press box at Madison Square Garden for Tuesday’s matchup. If that happens, former Avalanche forward Cody McLeod could slot in for the Russian native on the fourth line. McLeod was traded by the Avalanche to the Nashville Predators in January 2017. The Rangers acquired the 34-year old forward via a waivers claim in January 2018.
Coaching connections. First-time NHL head coach David Quinn, who spent the last five years running the bench for the Boston University Terriers, is finally getting a chance to coach against his former organization at the top tier of the sport. Quinn previously spent one season as an assistant coach for the Avs (2012-13) after serving as head coach of the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters, Colorado’s affiliate at the time, from 2009-2012.
Quinn isn’t the only one facing a reunion with the Avalanche. David Oliver, Colorado’s former director of player development, will also be on the bench for New York on Tuesday. Oliver spent 11 years with Colorado before joining the Rangers in July.
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