Avalanche Take on the Kraken Before Holiday Break

Colorado Avalanche face the Seattle Kraken in their last game before the holiday break. This is the final of three matchups between the two teams for the regular season. The Avalanche have come out on top in their two previous meetings and look to sweep this regular season series.

Colorado Avalanche face the Seattle Kraken in their last game before the holiday break. This is the final of three matchups between the two teams for the regular season. The Avalanche have come out on top in their two previous meetings and look to sweep this regular season series. Mackenzie Blackwood starting in net for the Avalanche in his first game against the Kraken with his new team.

In the spirit of trying something new for the holidays, here are Colorado's three keys to winning the game:

1.) Keep the Kraken Submerged

The Kraken are currently on a four-game skid, having lost to Tampa Bay (1-5 L), Ottawa (0-3 L), Chicago (1-3 L), and Vegas (2-6 L). Sunday's game is the second of a back-to-back, following the loss to Vegas on Saturday.

Seattle has a lot of incentive to get into the win column tonight, much of which comes from Yanni Gourde and Brandon Montour, who are one assist away from 200 career NHL assists. Forward Eeli Tolvanen has also been on a tear lately, with five points in seven games.

2.) Special Teams are the Name of the Game

"Special Teams basically won us the last two games," said Head Coach Jared Bednar after morning skate on Sunday. 

In their last two games, they went 3-8 on the power play and a perfect 9-9 on the penalty kill. Valeri Nichushkin, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar all cashed in on the power play, and Parker Kelly even found the back of the net while the team was short-handed during their win against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.

"They're starting to get hungry again around the net. It's that attack and shooting mentality we need," he said when asked about what's changed with the group's man advantage. He talked a lot about tactics the team has been using and said that repetition within those two-minute chances is really important to creating both initial and secondary scoring chances for the group.

3.) Find the Game Early at Home

Bednar was asked about the team's road (12-7-0) vs. home(8-8-0) record. Given December's plethora of road trips for the team, it's not surprising that their away record looks much better right now. Despite that, there's still a clear struggle where starts and overall play are concerned when they are at home.

"Clearly we are playing better on the road, there's no question. But why that is, why our starts have been a little bit better on the road than at home, I don't know. We're not really changing anything when it comes to the approach of it."

When leading after the first period, the Avalanche are 4-1-2. When leading after the second? That improves to 9-0-0.

Bednar has given a lot of credit to his bottom six for picking up any potential slack left behind by the top six. To find success early in the game, he'll need full contribution from all four lines.

As Scott Wedgewood put it after his first win: four lines, six D, two tendies. It takes the entire lineup to win and win well. That's what this team needs going into the holidays... and next month, where they'll be spending a lot more time on home turf.

Where/How to Watch:

The puck drops between these two teams at 6:08 pm Mountain Time.

Local broadcasts will host the game for both teams tonight. Coloradans can find the broadcast on Altitude+ with Marc Moser and Mark Rycroft holding the fort down. Conor McGahey will bring you the play-by-play on Altitude Sports Radio.

Seattle fans can find tonight's game on KONG and on the radio on KJR Sports Radio at 93.3 FM.

Tonight's game is also a national broadcast, which can be found on Prime Video and NHL Network.