The Colorado Avalanche (18-14-0) begin a three-game road trip on Monday with the first of three meetings this season against the Vancouver Canucks (15-9-5). Puck drop is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. MT.

READ MORE: With the goaltending issue sorted out, what’s the next step for the Avalanche?

The Avalanche earned a 5-2 victory over the Nashville Predators at Ball Arena in Mackenzie Blackwood’s debut with the team. Blackwood stopped 37 of 39 shots and was less than seven minutes away from blanking the Preds. His solid performance earned him First Star honors and another start. Blackwood, who was acquired a week ago today, is expected to make his away debut against Thatcher Demko.

After posting a league-best four goals and five assists in just three games, Nathan MacKinnon was named the second star of the week. All nine of MacKinnon’s points were equally strong, which on one hand is great. But then again, it’s a sign that Colorado’s difficult power play has gone on for far too long. The Avs hope to fix that against the Canucks.

MacKinnon’s week is even more impressive considering the team scored a total of 12 goals in those three games. He leads the NHL with 50 points, three more than second-place Kirill Karpizov of Minnesota. MacKinnon’s teammate Mikko Rantanen is tied with Nikita Kucherov for third place with 46 points. Rantanen also had nine points last week.

Saturday’s win brought the Avs back to .500 at home, an 8-8 record. But on the road, Colorado is 10-6-0 and is on a three-game winning streak while outscoring opponents 12-3. On the other hand, the Canucks are one of the best away teams in the league and have an incredibly good record of 10-2-1. But at Rogers Arena, they’re just 5-7-4 and coming off their worst loss yet – a 5-1 loss to the Boston Bruins.

Vancouver is 2-2-1 during a six-game homestand that ends against the Avs.

Quinn Hughes leads the Canucks with 34 points in 27 games. The only defenseman with more points than him in the entire NHL? You guessed it: Cale Makar. The Avalanche’s top blueliner has 37 points, albeit in 32 games. The duo are tied in points per game and are on par with the rest of the league.

Season series

• December 14 at the Vancouver Canucks
• February 4 at the Vancouver Canucks
• April 10 vs. Vancouver Canucks

Avalanche injuries

• Josh Manson (upper body, week by week)
• Oliver Kylington (upper body, week by week)
• Miles Wood (upper body, LTIR)
• Jonathan Drouin (upper body, week by week)
• Gabriel Landeskog (knee, no schedule)

READ MORE: 10 Observations: Avalanche bounce back in Blackwood’s debut (+)

Projected avalanche lines (subject to change)

Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen
Ross Colton – Casey Mittelstadt – Valeri Nichushkin
Joel Kiviranta – Parker Kelly – Logan O’Connor
Tye Felhaber – Ivan Ivan – Chris Wagner

Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Samuel Girard-Sam Malinski
Keaton Middleton-Calvin de Haan

Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood

Planned starters (subject to change)

• Confirmed: Mackenzie Blackwood (COL)
• Confirmed: Thatcher Demko (VAN)

Upcoming milestones

• Mikko Rantanen – needs 3 PPG for 100
• Nathan MacKinnon – needs 4 PPG for 100
• Cale Makar – needs 5 goals for 100
• Logan O’Connor – needs 5 games for 300
• Chris Wagner – needs 6 games to reach 400
• Devon Toews – needs 6 assists for 200

Here’s how to watch

• TV: Alpine sports
• Radio: 92.5FM