Nathan MacKinnon-led Avalanche pursue another win in clash vs. Sabres

Nathan MacKinnon has been on a two-week scoring binge, and the Colorado Avalanche would like him to keep it going when they meet the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night in Denver.

MacKinnon is riding a 10-game point streak and leads the NHL in scoring with 32 points (14 goals, 18 assists). His offense is even more important with the news that second-line winger Valeri Nichushkin will be out with a lower-body injury sustained in Tuesday night's 4-1 win over Anaheim.

"It's definitely a concern that he's not here (Wednesday) and left the game early (Tuesday) night," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said of Nichushkin (five goals, seven assists). "He's going to miss some time; I just don't know how much."

The Avalanche have won four games in a row and six of their last seven to move atop the NHL with 27 points.

Cale Makar has 23 points (six goals, 17 assists) to lead all NHL defensemen, Martin Necas has 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists), and Artturi Lehkonen has three goals over the last two games to push his season total to seven.

"I don't think our game is perfect by any means, but at this point in the season, I think we're doing a good job of making adjustments on the fly and trying to really hone in on the details of what makes us successful," captain Gabriel Landeskog said.

Thursday is setting up to be a potential trap game for Colorado, which has just one regulation loss, fewest in the league.

Buffalo, meanwhile, lost its fourth game in a row with a 5-2 setback to the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday, The Sabres remain the lone NHL team without a road win (0-4-2).

The Avalanche won the first meeting of the season, 3-1 in Buffalo, on Oct. 13.

The Sabres are without top-line center Jiri Kulich, who has not played since Nov. 1 due to blood clots.

Buffalo also is without wingers Jason Zucker (viral infection) and Zach Benson (lower body), although Benson could be activated from injured reserve during this current four-game road trip.

The Sabres rely on leading scorer Alex Tuch with 14 points (six goals, eight assists), followed by Tage Thompson's 12 points (six goals, six assists).

Defenseman Michael Kesselring is working his way back into rhythm after starting the season on IR with a lower-body injury. He has played seven games since returning and has yet to score.

"Scoring, I know it's going to happen," said Kesselring, who had 29 points (seven goals, 22 assists) with Utah last season. "It is a little frustrating. Especially (on a) new team, you want to get your first one out of the way.

"But that will come. There's other parts of my game that I'm more focused on right now. ... I've never, with the injury, been out that long. It's kind of tough to get back in a rhythm here, but it's been a few weeks now, so I expect myself to get going."

--Field Level Media