Vegas @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 27, 2018 ) Colorado 1, Vegas 2

The Vegas Golden Knights have given the Colorado Avalanche fits since entering the NHL, posting a 3-0-1 mark while outscoring the club by a 13-2 margin in the wins. The visiting Golden Knights look to fluster the Avalanche once again on Monday when the clubs reconvene at Pepsi Center in Denver.

Brandon Pirri scored for the second time in three outings on Saturday as Vegas snapped both a three-game skid and franchise-worst five-game home losing streak with a 5-1 romp in Nashville. The 27-year-old's second-period power-play tally served as his third game-winning goal this season, with the first coming midway through the third in a 2-1 triumph over Colorado on Dec. 27. The Avalanche were in the midst of a six-game skid at that point and have dropped six in a row at home and 19 of their last 23 overall (4-14-5) heading into their tilt with the Golden Knights. "We can't feel sorry for ourselves, we just have to keep pounding ahead," forward Mikko Rantanen (team-leading 52 assists, 76 points) said following Saturday's 3-0 setback to St. Louis. "... We can't get stuck in the mud, we have to forget and move on."

TV: 9 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Vegas), Altitude (Colorado)

ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (32-24-4): Paul Stastny celebrated his 33rd birthday with a goal and an assist versus Colorado, which was the franchise that selected him in the second round of the 2005 NHL Draft. His performance against the Avalanche in December ignited a run of three straight multi-point performances and 21 points total (five goals, 16 assists) during a 21-game stretch. Max Pacioretty tallied twice versus the Predators to collect his fourth multi-goal performance of the season, with the previous three coming in November.

ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (23-24-11): Although Colorado's eighth-ranked power play is mired in an 0-for-23 stretch in the last eight games, coach Jared Bednar embraced the positive on special teams as the club's 27th-ranked penalty kill thwarted all seven opportunities in the last two contests. "Our penalty kill now, after hitting the reset button and going through some things and making some significant changes to it just to give our guys something different to focus on, has not allowed a power-play goal in two straight games against two really good power plays," Bednar told reporters. J.T. Compher, who has two goals and an assist in his last five games, recorded his team's lone tally versus the Golden Knights in December.

OVERTIME

1. Colorado captain LW Gabriel Landeskog has scored just one of his team-best 30 goals in his last 10 games.

2. Golden Knights G Marc-Andre Fleury sports a sparkling 11-3-2 mark with one shutout and a 2.07 goals-against average in 17 career appearances against the Avalanche.

3. Colorado G Semyon Varlamov has turned aside 54 of 57 shots in his last two games after yielding at least four goals in four of his previous five outings.

PREDICTION: Golden Knights 3, Avalanche 2