Los Angeles @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 31, 2018 ) Los Angeles 3, Colorado 2

The Colorado Avalanche look to leave their pronounced road woes in their rearview mirror on Saturday afternoon when they open a five-game homestand against the Los Angeles Kings. Colorado, which has dropped eight of its last nine (1-7-1) on the road and 10 of 12 overall (2-8-2), will begin a stretch of nine of its next 13 outings at Pepsi Center.

"It's a disappointing road trip because I thought we started it playing some good hockey and didn't get rewarded," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said of a 1-4-0 trek that concluded with a 5-2 setback against struggling Ottawa. Nathan MacKinnon scored and set up a goal versus the Senators and did the same in Colorado's 7-3 romp in Los Angeles on Nov. 21. The Kings improved to 2-0-1 in their last three games after skating to a 2-1 triumph against Dallas on Thursday. Dustin Brown, who scored a power-play goal in the first period against the Stars, converted on a breakaway 56 seconds into overtime as Los Angeles posted a 3-2 win versus Colorado in Denver on Dec. 31.

TV: 3 p.m. ET, FS West (Los Angeles), Altitude (Colorado)

ABOUT THE KINGS (19-25-4): Defenseman Drew Doughty, who has scored and set up a goal in two meetings with Colorado this season, notched his club-best 22nd assist on Brown's goal against Dallas as Los Angeles snapped a five-game drought with the man advantage. "We've been working hard at the power play in practice every day, and you know the guys on the power play are usually obviously our top players, and we feel that we need to make a difference to win the hockey game," the former Norris Trophy recipient said of the Kings' 26th-ranked power play. Los Angeles especially has struggled with the man advantage on the road, going 6-for-51.

ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (21-18-8): Mikko Rantanen (club-best 50 assists, 71 points) set up a pair of goals against Ottawa to reach the 70-point plateau for the second straight season, joining Joe Sakic (nine), Peter Forsberg (six), Milan Hejduk (five), Paul Stastny (three) and Alex Tanguay (three) as the lone Avalanche players to have multiple campaigns with at least 70 points. Rantanen has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his last six games overall and collected three (all assists) in the two previous encounters with the Kings. Captain Gabriel Landeskog, who leads the team with 28 goals, set up a tally in each meeting with Los Angeles.

OVERTIME

1. Los Angeles G Jonathan Quick turned aside 22 shots on New Year's Eve to improve to 17-5-1 with a 2.15 goals-against average and .917 save percentage in his career versus Colorado.

2. The Avalanche have lost nine of 13 games (4-6-3) against Pacific Division foes this season.

3. Kings captain Anze Kopitar, who leads the team in goals (13) and points (31), has been held off the scoresheet in three of his last four contests.

PREDICTION: Avalanche 5, Kings 2