avalanche – CanucksBanter

Graphic featuring the logos of the Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks, with crossed hockey sticks and a puck on an ice rink.

By Andrew Phillip Chernoff | CanucksBanter

November 09, 2025

The Colorado Avalanche are set to visit the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena tonight, Sunday, November 9, 2025, at 07:00 PM PST.

This is a matchup of two teams playing on the second night of a back-to-back, which could impact the energy levels.

This contest pits an elite, high-momentum offensive engine against a structurally compromised defensive unit.

The Colorado Avalanche enter this contest holding decisive advantages in, roster depth, special teams execution, and the crucial goaltending matchup.

The Avalanche are expected to control the pace of the game, utilizing their depth and their power-play opportunities against the Canucks’ struggling penalty kill.

The Colorado Avalanche (9-1-5, 23 points) enters this matchup demonstrating systemic dominance, holding the league’s best record and the highest overall competitive ranking. Conversely, the Vancouver Canucks (8-8-0, 16 points) are grappling with pronounced defensive vulnerabilities and a critical goaltending crisis, compounded by the back-to-back (B2B) schedule for both clubs.

Team	Record	Recent (Last Game)	Key Players	Goaltending Situation
Colorado Avalanche	9-1-5 (23 Pts, NHL Best)	W 9-1 vs. Edmonton Oilers (on Saturday)	Nathan MacKinnon (League-leading points/goals), Cale Makar	Mackenzie Blackwood is the expected starter (second straight back-to-back start).
Vancouver Canucks	8-8-0 (16 Pts)	W 4-3 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (on Saturday)	Evander Kane, Brock Boeser, Quinn Hughes	Jiri Patera is the unconfirmed but likely starter as Thatcher Demko is getting maintenance rest.

Key Storylines

Avalanche Offensive Juggernaut: Colorado is coming off a massive 9-1 win and leads the league in points. The offense is firing on all cylinders, led by Nathan MacKinnon (on an 8-game point streak) and Cale Makar. They’re a high-scoring team (2nd in Goals For/Game) with top-tier defense (1st in Goals Against/Game) and penalty kill (4th).
Canucks’ Tough Task: Vancouver managed a much-needed win last night against Columbus but now faces arguably the toughest team in the league. They will need to bring their “A-game” to stop the Avalanche’s powerful offense, which is a major challenge, especially with a likely backup goalie starting.
Goaltending Edge: The Canucks are managing the workload of star goalie Thatcher Demko (who is not expected to play), likely giving the nod to either Kevin Lankinen or the recalled Jiri Patera. The Avalanche are also playing their backup, Mackenzie Blackwood, due to the back-to-back situation.
- Thatcher Demko, who previously engineered a 3-0 shutout against the Avalanche last season , will not be available.
- Demko is being held out of the lineup due to “preventative maintenance” or an undisclosed injury, having only participated in skating drills on Saturday morning but not dressing for the game.
- His absence entirely nullifies Vancouver’s single most important advantage—the capacity for a goaltender to single-handedly steal a game against superior competition.

Injury Notes

Avalanche: Key players out include Samuel Girard (upper body, day-to-day) and Joel Kiviranta (lower body, indefinitely). Logan O’Connor (hip) is nearing a return.
Canucks: Vancouver’s depth has been significantly compromised by multiple injuries affecting their middle-six forward core and defense.
- Key players currently out include Nils Höglander (Long-Term Injured Reserve due to an ankle injury sustained in the preseason), Filip Chytil (Injured Reserve due to concussion protocol), Jonathan Lekkerimäki (Injured Reserve, upper body), and Teddy Blueger (Injured Reserve, lower body).
- The absence of these players strains the team’s ability to maintain pace against high-tempo opponents and necessitates greater reliance on the top lines.

Avalanche Strengths and Key Players

The Avalanche have only one regulation loss this season and average nearly four goals per game (3.93). Cale Makar continues his hot streak with points in nine consecutive games, and Colorado’s depth has shown with multiple players contributing offensively in recent wins. Their defense is equally impressive, ranking at the top of the league, allowing just 2.40 goals per game, and holding the best penalty kill percentage at 90.5%.

Canucks Trends and Standouts

The Canucks, meanwhile, swept the season series against Colorado last year but have struggled recently, conceding four or more goals in three of their last four matches. Their penalty kill and defensive play have been among the weakest in the NHL—ranking 29th on the penalty kill and 25th in goals allowed per game. Conor Garland leads Vancouver in scoring this season with 12 points, followed by Elias Pettersson and Kiefer Sherwood.

Some Thoughts

The back-to-back games marginally relieve the certainty of a high-scoring game but does little to change Colorado’s fundamental competitive advantage.

The special teams matchup represents the most significant tactical vulnerability for the Vancouver Canucks in this contest. Vancouver’s Penalty Kill (PK%) is struggling severely, running at a highly concerning 69.81%. Vancouver’s Power Play (PP%) of 18.00% is statistically unacceptable for an NHL team hoping to make the 2026 NHL playoffs.

Team statistics comparison between the Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks for the regular NHL season, showing key metrics such as power play percentage, penalty kill percentage, face-off percentage, goals for per game, and goals against per game.

Despite strong performances from the core forwards, the depth makes offensive production difficult. The projected lines for Vancouver feature notable movement, particularly in the top six, but the multiple injuries affecting their middle-six forward core have limited the Canucks ability to compete.

It is, what it is.

Vancouver played an outstanding game last night, considering the “cards they’ve been dealt”, and they hung on for an outstanding win to please the home crowd and the Canucks fan base.

With all the adversity the Canucks are facing on paper, let’s hope for a similar game against the Avalanche tonight and put our collective energies behind them to urge them on.

The game hasn’t been written yet, may the Canucks provide another glorious ending!

Until next time, hockey fans

Source: nhl.com

2023

By NHL Public Relations

April 30, 2023

There is nothing quite like a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and Sunday has a pair of them packed full of interesting storylines.

It opens with the record-setting Bruins, who won the 2022-23 Presidents’ Trophy, hosting the Panthers, the 2021-22 Presidents’ Trophy winners who have rallied from a 3-1 deficit to force a deciding contest.

It concludes with the reigning Stanley Cup champion Avalanche looking to win their fifth consecutive series, facing the Kraken, looking for the franchise’s first-ever series win.

* Click here for more #NHLStats and Storylines ahead of Sunday including Game 7 trends and individual Game 7 statistics for all clubs.

BRUINS FAMILIAR WITH GAME 7s, PANTHERS AIM FOR THIRD STRAIGHT WIN

No franchise in Stanley Cup Playoffs history has appeared in more Game 7s than the Bruins (15-14), who have a bevy of big-game experience on their roster heading into Sunday’s contest at TD Garden.

Captain Patrice Bergeron has appeared in 13 career Game 7s, the most by any forward in NHL history and one shy of tying longtime teammate Zdeno Chara for the most all-time. Bergeron (6-7), David Krejci (6-5) and Brad Marchand (6-4) make up three of the 10 active skaters who have at least six Game 7 victories.

The Bruins had a record-setting 65-win regular season, one of four teams in NHL history to post 60-plus wins in a single campaign. Of the previous three, only the 2018-19 Lightning did not advance past the opening round.

This is the seventh time the Presidents’ Trophy winner will play a Game 7 in the opening round and first in a dozen years (it happened in back-to-back years, 2010 & 2011).

The Panthers will contest their third all-time Game 7, following a win in the 1996 Conference Finals (3-1 W at PIT) and a loss in 2012 Conference Quarterfinals (3-2 L in 2OT vs. NJD).

They can become the seventh franchise in NHL history to have each of their first two Game 7 wins come as the road team. Others include:

Islanders (4)
Wild (3)
Sharks (3)
Flames (2)
Avalanche/Nordiques (2)
Stars/North Stars (2)

While the Bruins have 21 players with Game 7 experience to the Panthers’ six, that experience shifts when it comes to head coaches. Boston’s Jim Montgomery lost his only Game 7 behind the bench when he coached the Stars (2019 R2: 2-1 2OTL at STL), while Paul Maurice boasts a perfect 3-0 record in seventh and deciding games – he can join Peter DeBoer (6 straight) and Tommy Ivan (4 straight) as the third head coach to win each of his first four or more consecutive Game 7 appearances.

AVALANCHE LOOK TO CONTINUE RUN, KRAKEN AIM TO START ONE

By the end of Game 7 between the Avalanche and Kraken, one team will either win their fifth consecutive series and continue a run for a second consecutive Stanley Cup championship, or one will carve out a franchise-first postseason series win.

The Avalanche did not require seven games in any of their four series victories in 2022 and have lost their last five Game 7s dating to the 2002 Conference Finals at Detroit. Since relocating to Denver in 1995-96, Colorado owns a 4-4 record when contesting a Game 7 on home ice.

This will mark the second straight year and 15th time overall that the reigning Stanley Cup champion will play a Game 7 in its opening series, with the opposing club owning an 8-6 edge in the previous 14 instances.

* The Kraken may be contesting the first Game 7 in franchise history, but their roster has a combined 29 appearances in seventh and deciding games, including four skaters with three or more: Andre Burakovsky (6 GP: 2-4), Jaden Schwartz (4 GP: 4-0), Justin Schultz (3 GP: 3-0) and Jordan Eberle (3 GP: 1-2).

* Seattle, who can become the ninth team to eliminate the reigning Stanley Cup champion in Game 7 of the opening round and the first to win the first-ever series in franchise history against the defending champs, is the 10th franchise to require a Game 7 in its first-ever series.