In what figures to be their most difficult challenge to date, the Avalanche (6-1-2) play Tampa Bay (5-1-1) on Wednesday to open a two-game homestand.
While the Avalanche are tied with Nashville for the most points (14) in the NHL, the Lightning are one point off the lead for the most points in the Eastern Conference and have outscored teams 25-13 during a 4-0-1 run.
Semyon Varlamov will be in goal for Colorado. He has a 4-0-2 record, 1.64 goals-against average and .953 save percentage. He’s allowed two goals or fewer in five of six starts.
The Gabriel Landeskog-Nathan MacKinnon-Mikko Rantanen line scored 12 of the Avalanche’s 14 goals during the 3-0-1 road trip that ended Monday with a 4-1 win in Philadelphia.
MacKinnon and Rantanen will try to become the first teammates in franchise history to begin a season with simultaneous 10-game point streaks. The NHL record for such a streak is 15 games, set in 1973-74 by Boston’s Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito.
MacKinnon (eight goals, seven assists in the streak) and Rantanen (four goals, 12 assists) are the sixth and seventh Avalanche/Quebec players with at least a point in nine consecutive games to start a season.
“Loved our road trip, no question,… coach Jared Bednar said after the morning skate. “To be able to go on the road and get points in all four games is really good, a positive step in the right direction. But not too much time to celebrate, obviously, you’ve got Tampa coming in. They’re a high-flying team that can hurt you in a lot of different ways.…
The Lightning are coming off a 6-3 win in Chicago in which they had an NHL record 33 shots in the second period and finished with a franchise record 55 shots on goal.
Tampa Bay also has been getting excellent goaltending. Andrei Vasilevskiy will start. He has a 3-1-1 record with a 2.16 goals-against average and .933 save percentage.
“It’s a good challenge,… said Landeskog, who has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak. “It’s obviously a team that’s playing well and in their stride right now. They have a lot of power up front and one of the better back ends in the league. It’ll be a good test for us, but we can’t really sell ourselves short either. We’re a pretty good hockey team as well.…
Center J.T. Compher and defense prospect Conor Timmins remain out with concussion-like symptoms. Compher was injured Oct. 13 against Calgary and still isn’t skating.
“He has his good days and bad days,… Bednar said.
Timmins returned to Denver after spending time with his family in Ontario.
“Feeling a little bit better,… Bednar said. “I don’t have a timeline on him, either.…
The lineup:
FORWARDS Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen Sven Andrighetto -- Alexander Kerfoot -- Colin Wilson Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Matt Calvert Marko Dano -- Tyson Jost -- Gabriel Bourque
DEFENSE Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson Ian Cole -- Tyson Barrie Nikita Zadorov -- Patrik Nemeth
GOALIES Semyon Varlamov Philipp Grubauer