Nathan MacKinnon was named the NHL's first star for the week ending Sunday after collecting six points (four goals, two assists), including two game-winning goals, to help the Avalanche win all three of their games.
Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck and Boston forward Brad Marchand were named second and third stars, respectively.
The Avalanche (26-16-3) take a nine-game winning streak into Monday's game in Toronto, where after the morning skate MacKinnon was a popular interviewee. He has 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in a nine-game point streak and is second in NHL scoring with 59 points (23 goals, 36 assists).
Check out the GAME NOTES.
Among other things, MacKinnon was asked if the team's culture changed after the Nov. 5 trade of Matt Duchene, which fetched seven pieces, including Samuel Girard.
“It did a lot,… MacKinnon, the Avalanche's lone NHL All-Star representative, told reporters. “There’s nothing wrong with Dutchy wanting to leave. I think it’s fair. He’s eight, nine years in this league and it wasn’t like a crazy breakup or anything. He went about it really good this season. But obviously we knew he wanted to leave.
"Now we have everybody here that wants to be here, which is great. If Dutchy was here I’d think we’d be in a good spot as well. He’s a really good player and obviously it’s nice to get (Girard) here. He’s a great defenseman.…
Well, "great" is quite an exaggeration, but the 19-year-old does have plenty of potential. He has nine assists in 31 games since the trade while averaging 17 minutes of ice time, and he's been on the top power-play unit since Tyson Barrie sustained a broken hand Dec. 23 in Arizona.
Goalie Jonathan Bernier, who played three seasons with the Maple Leafs, has won eight in a row with one shutout, a 1.47 goals-against average and .958 save percentage. He's 13-7-1 for the season with two shutouts, a 2.61 goals-against average and .919 save percentage.
Barrie, forward Sven Andrighetto (leg) and goalie Semyon Varlamov (groin) are on the trip. Coach Jared Bednar said Barrie and Andrighetto are day to day, but Varlamov won't be available until after next weekend's NHL All-Star break. Forward Colin Wilson has had the flu.
The Avalanche are 8-9-2 on the road, 2-0-1 in the past three and 4-1-1 in the past six.
They'll use the same lineup as in their 3-1 win Saturday against the New York Rangers:
FORWARDS Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Blake Comeau Dominic Toninato -- Alexander Kerfoot -- Nail Yakupov Gabriel Bourque -- Tyson Jost -- J.T. Compher
DEFENSE Nikita Zadorov -- Erik Johnson Patrik Nemeth -- Mark Barberio Samuel Girard -- Anton Lindholm
GOALIES Jonathan Bernier Andrew Hammond