Colorado

Friday Night Hockey | Colorado Avalanche

Published

1 day ago

January 16, 2026

Press Room

Friday Night Hockey | Colorado Avalanche

Nashville Predators (22-20-4) @ Colorado Avalanche (33-4-8)

7 p.m. MT | Ball Arena | Watch: KTVD-20, Altitude, Altitude+ | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)

In the fourth contest of a seven-game homestand, the Avalanche hosts a Central Division foe and concludes its regular-season series with the Nashville Predators on Friday. In their previous three meetings in 2025-26, the Avalanche defeated the Predators 3-0 on November 22nd, Nashville won 4-3 in a shootout in Tennessee on December 9th and Colorado won 4-2 in Denver on December 13th.

Defeat in Overtime

The Avalanche lost 4-3 in overtime to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Ball Arena on Monday. Cale Makar, Brock Nelson and Martin Necas all scored for Colorado, while Nathan MacKinnon recorded three assists. Toronto’s Easton Cowan opened the scoring at 11:15 of the first period with a shot from the bottom of the left circle that deflected into the net. Makar tied the game at 16:12 of the first period with his 14th goal of the season via a right-circle shot set up by Necas, who found the Avs blueliner after performing a highlight-reel spin-o-rama move around Maple Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe. The Avs took a 2-1 lead on the power play at 17:53 of the first period when Nelson scored his 22nd goal of the season via a one-timer from the slot set up by MacKinnon. Bobby McMann tied the game for Toronto at 2:12 of the second period with a breakaway goal. The Maple Leafs took a 3-2 lead at 10:24 of the third period when Auston Matthews scored with a left-circle shot off the rush. Necas tied the game at 12:55 of the third period with his 21st goal of the season via a shot from the doorstep set up by MacKinnon. William Nylander scored the game-winning goal for Toronto at 3:59 of overtime with a right-circle shot.

Leading the Way

Nate the Great

MacKinnon leads the NHL in goals (36) while ranking second in points (81) and third in assists (45).

All Hail Cale

Makar leads NHL defensemen in points (53) and is tied for first in assists (39) while ranking third in goals from blueliners (14). Among all NHL skaters, he’s tied for seventh in assists.

Marty Party

Necas is tied for eighth in the NHL in points (57).

Series History

In 102 previous regular-season games against Nashville, Colorado has a record of 45-42-5-10. The teams have met twice in the playoffs, including the 2022 First Round when the Avalanche defeated the Predators in four games.

Overtime Against the Oilers

The Predators defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in overtime at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday. In the first period, Nashville’s Steven Stamkos opened the scoring at 2:45 before Edmonton’s Zach Hyman tied the game on the power play at 17:06. Erik Haula gave Nashville a 2-1 lead at 3:03 of the second period before Leon Draisaitl tied the game for Edmonton at 7:20 of the middle frame. Hyman gave the Oilers a 3-2 lead with his second power-play goal of the game at 13:12 of the second period before Nashville’s Roman Josi tied the game at 13:50 of the middle frame. Josi scored the game-winning goal with his second tally of the contest at 3:43 of overtime.

Notching Points Against Nashville

MacKinnon has posted 51 points (21g/30a) in 41 regular-season games against the Predators in addition to 12 points (8g/4a) in 10 playoff contests.

In 23 contests against Nashville, Nelson has recorded 18 points (8g/10a).

Makar has registered 25 points (7g/18a) in 18 regular-season contests against the Predators in addition to 10 points (3g/7a) in four playoff contests.

Tallying Points in Tennessee

Ryan O’Reilly leads Nashville in points (39) and assists (26) while ranking third on the team in goals (13).

Stamkos leads Nashville in goals (20) and is tied for third in goals (31).

Filip Forsberg is second on the Predators in points (32) and goals (16) while ranking tied for third in assists (16).

A Numbers Game

313

MacKinnon recorded the 313th multi-point game of his career on Monday, which tied Peter Stastny for the second most in franchise history.

4

Nelson’s four power-play goals since January 1st are the most in the NHL during that time span.

58.2%

Jack Drury’s 58.2% face-off win percentage is the fifth highest in the NHL among players with at least 500 face-offs taken this season.

Quote That Left a Mark

“You definitely liked the response. [MacKinnon] and those guys went out on the ice, [and] they had a great shift and got that goal back which was big.”

— Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar on the team’s response to trailing 3-2 in the third period against the Maple Leafs on Monday

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Colorado

East Colfax neighborhood chosen for Colorado’s first environmental equity study

Published

40 minutes ago

January 17, 2026

Press Room

East Colfax neighborhood chosen for Colorado’s first environmental equity study

The East Colfax neighborhood in Aurora will be the first community in Colorado to receive a state-sponsored grant to study how pollution, extreme heat and other environmental factors affect people’s health and quality of life.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced Friday that East Colfax would be its first-ever Environmental Equity and Cumulative Impact Analysis recipient.

The department’s Office of Environmental Justice will work with the grassroots nonprofit Black Parents United Foundation to collect data, listen to residents’ experiences and explore ways to improve environmental quality.

Black Parents United will receive $125,000 for its work, and the state health department will hire a third-party researcher, who will be paid up to $900,000 to conduct the analysis and write the report, said Meghan Guevara, director of the Office of Environmental Justice.

“This is really a chance to look holistically at the environmental stressors and health impacts that one community is facing,” Guevara said.

The findings will be applied to future state and local decisions on permitting, planning and public health.

For years, state regulators, businesses, environmentalists and people who live in polluted neighborhoods have been at an impasse on how to define cumulative impacts and how to measure their impact on people’s health.

Many people who live in polluted neighborhoods argue that multiple factors, such as companies that spew toxic chemicals into the air, heavy traffic, extreme heat and lack of health care options, can combine to compound health problems.

Those neighborhoods often are home to people who are Latino, Indigeneous or Black and who earn less money than the state average.

The East Colfax neighborhood is a neighborhood that fits that profile, Guevara said.

Policymakers often address one issue at a time, rarely considering how all of those stressors work together to affect people’s health, she said.

“Cumulative impact really tries to understand how we can take all of those factors together and look at a geographical area and say, ‘What does the full picture look like?” Guevara said.

The analysis is part of a 2024 Colorado law, HB24-1338, that requires the state to address cumulative impacts and environmental justice.

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Colorado

Skier visits plunge in Colorado’s high country as warm temperatures continue

Published

13 hours ago

January 16, 2026

Press Room

Skier visits plunge in Colorado’s high country as warm temperatures continue

January 16, 2026 / 6:31 PM MST
/ CBS Colorado

Unseasonably warm temperatures have plagued Colorado through most of the winter, and some of Colorado’s most popular resorts say the lack of snow is affecting their bottom line.

Vail Resorts reported a 20% drop in visitors through Jan. 4, compared with the same period last year. An update for investors on Thursday said only 11% of its terrain was open through December, discouraging potential customers from hitting the slopes.

Arapahoe Basin ski resort on Dec. 16, 2025. Colorado ski resorts faced sparse snow conditions early in the 2025 season.

Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post

Snowfall in the Western U.S. is 50% below the 30 year average, and the unusually dry and warm winter has left places like Breckenridge with only a third of its runs open.

Vail Resorts has lowered its expectations for its fiscal 2026 profits.

Rob Katz, Chief Executive Officer, said, “Given the impact from conditions, we now expect our full year Resort Reported EBITDA to be just below the low end of the guidance range issued on September 29, 2025, assuming that performance in the Rockies returns to normal by President’s weekend. To the extent that performance improvements in the Rockies lag, due to weaker than expected conditions, there could be further downside to our guidance.”

Warm temperatures have caused delays and adjustments to other attractions in Colorado’s mountain communities, including a late start at the Ice Castles in Cripple Creek. The 31st annual Ouray Ice Festival will look very different this year, featuring more off-ice events for climbers to enjoy as event organizers adjust to current conditions.

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Colorado

Colorado senators push to stop closure of weather research facility

Published

2 days ago

January 15, 2026

Press Room

Colorado senators push to stop closure of weather research facility

Colorado senators are pushing to protect an important weather research facility based in Boulder. Sen. Michael Bennet announced Thursday that he and Sen. John Hickenlooper are opposing an amendment to the federal budget in order to keep funding the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

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