Aarif Deen
With every team’s opening-night matchup for the 2026-27 season now official, it’s a good time to look back at the Colorado Avalanche’s history in season openers.
Dating back to the Quebec Nordiques, the franchise owns a 27-12-1 record on opening night, along with six ties in 46 games. Its .663 points percentage ranks third in NHL history, trailing only the Vegas Golden Knights (.833 in nine games) and Tampa Bay Lightning (.667 in 33 games).
Strong starts have become the norm for Colorado. Last season, the Avalanche opened with a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings, marking their eighth opening-night win in the past 10 seasons. The only defeats during that span came in 2024-25, an 8-5 loss to Vegas, and the shortened 2020-21 campaign, when they fell 4-1 to the St. Louis Blues.
This year’s opener marks the third time the Avalanche will begin a season against Los Angeles, tied for the fourth-most frequent opening-night opponent since the franchise relocated to Denver in 1995. Only the Minnesota Wild (five), Dallas Stars (four), and Chicago Blackhawks (four) have faced Colorado more often to begin a season.