For the third and final time this season, the Utah Hockey Club will play its divisional rival, the Colorado Avalanche, on Friday.
The season series title is still up for grabs. Each team has won a game and lost a game, and both wins came in decisive fashion.
With the two teams battling for the same few playoff spots, Friday’s meeting means a lot.
The Avalanche currently hold the third playoff spot in the division, being four points ahead of Utah HC.
Utah has two games in hand, meaning they could potentially get to that spot by the time they play as many games as Colorado.
Rested and ready
A league-wide Christmas break has allowed both teams some much-needed rest.
The Avalanche haven’t played since Sunday and Utah HC hasn’t played since Monday. But don’t assume the extra day of rest gives the Avs any sort of advantage.
This season, when the Avalanche have played after a break of three days or longer, they’re 0-1-0 with a goals-against average of 8.00.
Utah HC, on the other hand, is 4-0-0 in the same category.
It’s a small sample size and the Avalanche have an entirely different goaltending tandem, but it’s clear that one team has used the rest to their advantage and the other may have lost focus.
Utah head coach André Tourigny said before the break that he planned to focus on his family during his time off, but he also maintained that he and his players are professionals and that they would probably take Thursday to “get going a little bit.”
You’d better watch out
The league’s two highest-scoring players both play for the Avalanche, and they’re as hot as they’ve ever been.
Mikko Rantanen is on a nine-game point streak with 17 points in that span, while Nathan MacKinnon has 21 points in his last 11 games. In two games against Utah this season, the two have combined for four points: a goal from MacKinnon and three assists from Rantanen.
Containing those players, along with superstar defenseman Cale Makar, are the top priority when playing the Avalanche. Utah HC did a good job at that the last time they played, with their only goal coming in the final five minutes of the game. If they can have even a fraction of that success this time around, they could find themselves on the brink of a playoff spot.
On the flip side, Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley have seen above-average success against the Avalanche this season. Guenther has two goals and an assist, while Cooley has a pair of assists. If those two can continue performing at a high level, they’ll give their team a real shot at winning on Friday.
It’s also worth noting that Avalanche forward Joel Kiviranta has five goals in his last three games, including a hat trick against the Seattle Kraken just before the break.
Where to watch Utah Hockey Club vs. Colorado Avalanche
The broadcast rights for this game are exclusive to ESPN, meaning it will not be shown on Utah HC+ or Utah16. Tune in on ESPN2 Friday night at 7:30 p.m. MST.
Tickets are available on a number of platforms, with Ticketmaster’s prices starting at $105 at the time of writing.