Colorado @ Vegas preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 25, 2019 ) Colorado 4, Vegas 1

The Colorado Avalanche were the last team in the NHL to suffer a loss in regulation, but they have a more pressing concern entering the finale of a six-game road trip at the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday night. The Avalanche lost high-scoring forward Mikko Rantanen to a lower-body injury in Monday's 3-1 setback at reigning Stanley Cup champion St. Louis.

Initial reports suggested Rantanen, who is tied for the team lead with 12 points, would be sidelined for four to six weeks, but coach Jared Bednar predicted the return date would be "significantly sooner" for his top-line forward. "When you lose one of the best players in the NHL, it's tough," linemate Nathan MacKinnon told reporters. "We're not going to replace him, but he got hurt last year and we found a way to get some wins. Hopefully we can weather the storm until he gets back." Colorado will have a tough first test without Rantanen in the Golden Knights, who rebounded from a 6-2 drubbing in Philadelphia on Monday to cap a three-game road trip with a 2-1 shootout win at Chicago just 24 hours later. "We’ve had some inconsistent nights," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant told reporters. "Most of our nights have been pretty good, but we’ve had some inconsistent nights, and I see that around the league. I’m not putting too much into it right now.

TV: 6 p.m. ET, Altitude2 (Colorado), AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Vegas)

ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (7-1-1): Bednar did not want to break up his No. 2 line so he elected on J.T. Compher as a replacement for Rantanen alongside MacKinnon and captain Gabriel Landeskog. "I want him to bring his speed and tenacity on the puck," Bednar told reporters Thursday. "We had some success last year with Compher playing with those guys. That's going to be our first go-to for tomorrow night." MacKinnon, tied with Rantanen for the team lead with 12 points, is the fifth player in league history with a season-opening nine-game point streak in back-to-back campaigns.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (7-4-0): Marc-Andre Fleury earned his league-leading seventh victory in Chicago, winning his third consecutive start to move past Terry Sawchuk for seventh place on the all-time list with 446 wins. "He's our ace. I mean he's been outstanding all year for us," Gallant said of Fleury, who has turned aside 97 of 100 shots over his last three starts and is 2-0-1 with three goals allowed in three starts versus Colorado since joining Vegas. The Golden Knights owned the league's top-ranked penalty killing unit entering Thursday with a success rate of 90.9 percent.

OVERTIME

1. The teams have split six meetings, with the home team prevailing in each.

2. Golden Knights F Mark Stone has four goals and four assists during a seven-game point streak.

3. Avalanche G Philipp Grubauer has surrendered at least three goals in four straight starts.

PREDICTION: Golden Knights 4, Avalanche 3