Dominant Avalanche host Mammoth in pre-Christmas matchup

The NHL is starting its three-day holiday hiatus on Wednesday, and the Colorado Avalanche can head into the break on a high note when they host the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday night in Denver.

Colorado has won five in a row -- one behind Buffalo's league-leading six-game winning streak -- and has just two regulation losses all season. The Avalanche will go into the three-day break with the most points in the league no matter what happens against Utah.

Colorado has earned at least one point in all 16 home games (14-0-2) and carries a 12-game winning streak in Denver heading into Tuesday night. The Avalanche's last home loss was in a shootout to Carolina on Oct. 23.

The catalyst for this strong start to the season is Nathan MacKinnon, who leads the NHL in goals (30) and is second in the league with 61 points as of Monday morning. Martin Necas is second in points for Colorado with 47 (16 goals, 31 assists), which is sixth in the NHL. Cale Makar leads all defensemen in scoring with 43 points (11 goals, 32 assists).

Brock Nelson is fifth on the Avalanche with 25 points (14 goals, 11 assists) and he has come on strong over the last six weeks. Nelson had just three goals and three assists through the first 17 games but has picked up his play since. He had a goal and two assists in Colorado's 5-1 win in Minnesota on Sunday.

"He's peaking at the right time," MacKinnon said. "He looks amazing -- guy that big that can move like that, one of the best defensive centers in the league."

Tuesday night will be the third of four meetings between the Mammoth and the Avalanche, with each winning on home ice. Utah's victory came in overtime on Oct. 21.

The Mammoth began the season winning eight of their first 10 games before running into tough times. Utah followed that hot start by going 6-13-3 over the next 19 games but has won four of its last six heading into Tuesday night.

The Mammoth beat Winnipeg 4-3 on Sunday night when Clayton Keller scored 13 seconds into overtime, after the Jets had allowed two goals in 25 seconds to send the game beyond regulation.

Keller and Nick Schmaltz lead Utah in scoring with identical stats -- 12 goals and 20 assists -- and Dylan Guenther tops the Mammoth with 16 goals to go along with 14 assists. JJ Peterka has 27 points (14 goals, 13 assists) and Mikhail Sergachev is fifth on Utah with 25 points (four goals, 21 assists).

"I think all lines are playing well right now," Keller said after his winner against Winnipeg. "We're getting scoring up and down the lineup. I think something we have to continue to do moving forward if we want to be successful and we want to play in the end is our depth of scoring. It's great to see that, and we've got to keep it going."

--Field Level Media