The Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche face off Saturday (3 p.m. ET; NHLN, ALT, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV) in the “NHL Network Showcase presented by SAP.”
The Golden Knights (22-8-1) and Avalanche (21-8-3) are tied for first place in the Honda West Division. The Avalanche defeated the Golden Knights 5-1 on Thursday and are 3-2-0 against Vegas this season.
Vegas goalie Robin Lehner is 2-0-0 with a .927 save percentage and has allowed three goals on 41 shots since missing 17 games because of a concussion. He backed up Marc-Andre Fleury in a 5-4 win against the San Jose Sharks on March 17.
Fleury is 16-7-0 with a 2.06 goals-against average, .927 save percentage and four shutouts. He is two wins from tying Ed Belfour (484) for fourth in NHL history. Roberto Luongo (489) is third.
Avalanche goalie Philipp Grubauer looks to extend his winning streak to nine. He’s 8-0-0 with a 0.65 goals-against average, .971 save percentage and two shutouts since March 10.
The Avalanche are 10-1-2 in their past 12 games and are 8-0-1 in a nine-game point streak.
Here are 3 storylines to keep an eye on:
Star power
The Avalanche are led by their top line of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. They’ve combined for 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists) and a plus-19 rating in their past five games.
Rantanen has scored an NHL-leading 11 goals in March. It’s the second-most goals scored by an Avalanche player in March since the team relocated from Quebec in 1995 (Joe Sakic scored 15 in March 2000). Rantanen leads the Avalanche with 19 goals and has scored 14 points (five goals, nine assists) during an eight-game point streak.
Stone era
Mark Stone has helped the Golden Knights go 10-4-0 in March while leading the NHL with 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in the month. His 1.30 points per game is fifth in the NHL this season and he scored 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in a personal 10-game point streak from March 1-19. He missed a 2-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild on March 8 with an undisclosed injury.
Max Pacioretty scored nine points (four goals, five assists) in a five-game point streak before missing the past two games with an upper-body injury. The forward is second on Vegas with 31 points (17 goals, 14 assists) behind Stone (39 points; 12 goals, 27 assists).
Sophomore surge
Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar is second in the NHL at the position with 0.95 goals per game (minimum 15 games played) behind Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning (1.00) after winning the Calder Trophy voted as NHL rookie of the year last season. He’s scored nine power-play points to lead Colorado defensemen and he’s second among Avalanche skaters in ice time per game (23:53) to Devon Toews (24:15).
Makar has two goals and three assists in five games after missing 12 with an upper-body injury.
Video: SAP Insights: Key stats ahead of Vegas vs. Colorado