Colorado Avalanche Looking for Another Road Win in LA

The efficacy of the Colorado Avalanche’s Western road trip depends on how they face the #31 LA Kings. Will they further their road identity in LA?

The Colorado Avalanche are at the midpoint of their western road trip. They faced — and defeated — the Ducks in Anaheim on Sunday. They’ll face the Arizona Coyotes on Black Friday.

In the meantime, they need to take care of some business in Los Angeles as they take on the Kings in the Staples Center.

All time, the LA Kings enjoy a slight edge over the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado is 44-47-6-4 (ties). Howeverm weirdly enough, they’ve out-scored the Kings 299 to 291. That said, the Kings swept the three-game series last season as well as two more from the (dreadful) 2016-17 season. The Avs last won on November 15, 2016, in the Pepsi Center.

Well, water under the bridge and all that. The Avs currently enjoy a 10-6-4 record which puts them at fourth in the Central and first in the wild card. The Kings have a 7-12-1 record, which has them questioning their identity.

The Avalanche are coming off an overtime victory against the Anaheim Ducks which just happened to be their 1,000th since relocating to Colorado. Right now, they’re 3-3-2 in November, so certainly they’d like to tip those numbers into the win column.

The Kings are coming off a 2-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues that was the straw that broke Mike Yeo’s back — they dismissed him soon after. They’re 3-5-1 in November. They’re currently the worst team in the

Western Conference

entire NHL.

How to Enjoy the Game

Game time: November 21, 8:30 pm MT
TV Networks: Alt, FS-W (Kings’ feed)
Radio: Altitude Radio (AM 950)

Keep up the Momentum

The Colorado Avalanche have won three of their last four. Or, they’ve lost five games in November. It all depends on how you look at it.

Naturally, we’d all like to see the Avs keep up the momentum on the first observation. If you have two wins already going into the Coyotes game on Friday, you’re in a good position.

Goalie Semyon Varlamov will be in net tonight.

Put the Nail in the Coffin

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The Colorado Avalanche are a pretty good team. They’re on the up-swing. Their top line is the best in the NHL. Some of our players — namely Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon — are getting recognition league-wide.

The Avs are a team that can make the most dominant teams in the NHL sweat. They’re also a team that can give too much leeway to a… not-dominant team. The #31 out of 31 team in the NHL is a not-dominant team.

And the Colorado Avalanche might well let that fact get into their heads. They could well play down to their opponents.

Good teams dominate no matter who their opponent is? If you’re a lesser team, they simply use you as fodder for your stats. Because every NHL team is made of NHLers — so you can’t take time off.

Injury Updates

J.T. Compher has now joined the team on the roadie. However, he practiced yesterday in a no-contact jersey. It’s hoped that he can play against the Coyotes.

Colin Wilson and Matt Nieto participated in the full practice. They were scratched against the Ducks, both with lower-body injuries. They’re possible against the Kings.

Though not an injury, Matt Calvert did not practice yesterday. He was on a personal leave for his mother, who’s ill. He’s expected to be in the lineup tonight.

After tonight, the Colorado Avalanche will head to Arizona. After Turkey Day, they’s take on the Coyotes. After tonight, they’ll host the Kings twice — on December 31 and January 19.