Colorado Avalanche (27-19-4, third in the Central Division) vs. Florida Panthers (26-22-6, fourth in the Atlantic Division)
Sunrise, Florida; Saturday, 6 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: The Florida Panthers head into a matchup with the Colorado Avalanche as winners of three games in a row.
Florida has a 15-7-3 record in home games and a 26-22-6 record overall. The Panthers have committed 263 total penalties (4.9 per game) to rank first in the league.
Colorado has a 27-19-4 record overall and a 14-10-1 record in road games. The Avalanche have conceded 138 goals while scoring 148 for a +10 scoring differential.
Saturday's game is the second time these teams square off this season. The Panthers won the last matchup 5-4. Eric Staal scored two goals in the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Matthew Tkachuk has 27 goals and 44 assists for the Panthers. Carter Verhaeghe has scored nine goals with five assists over the past 10 games.
Cale Makar has 13 goals and 32 assists for the Avalanche. Mikko Rantanen has seven goals and three assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Panthers: 6-2-2, averaging 4.5 goals, 7.2 assists, 4.8 penalties and 13.9 penalty minutes while giving up 3.1 goals per game.
Avalanche: 7-2-1, averaging 3.3 goals, 5.8 assists, 3.2 penalties and 8.1 penalty minutes while giving up 2.1 goals per game.
INJURIES: Panthers: Anthony Duclair: out (achilles), Patric Hornqvist: out (upper-body).
Avalanche: Cale Makar: out (head), Josh Manson: out (lower-body), Gabriel Landeskog: out (knee), Darren Helm: out (lower body).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
