The Colorado Avalanche face the Arizona Coyotes with both teams looking to improve from rocky starts to the season. The Avalanche have a 19 11 2 record but with four wins in a row, they have leaped into third place in the Central Division. The Coyotes have an 11-16-5 record and are near the bottom of the Central Division. Both teams are looking to improve in the division and the Western Conference and the upcoming game should be a good one as a result.
The Avalanche are having a promising season despite their offense struggling and scoring only 2.91 goals per game. Mikko Rantanen, Artturi Lehkonen, and J.T. Compher have scored 37 goals and 45 assists to lead the top two lines while defensemen Cale Makar and Devon Toews have added nine goals and 38 assists but the rest of the offense has struggled. The hope is that Logan O'Connor and Andrew Cogliano can step up as they play a pivotal role in the offense but have only scored nine goals and eight assists.
The offense has struggled but the defense has been remarkable this season, allowing only 2.59 goals per game with only four goals in the last four games. Makar and Toews have combined for 4.9 defensive point shares and 101 blocked shots while Erik Johnson and Josh Manson have combined for 3.3 defensive point shares to add depth to the unit. In addition, goaltender Alexandar Georgiev has ste pped up in the net with a .925 save percentage and a 2.36 goals-against average on 732 shots.