Hopefully, the Golden Knights enjoyed their three-day Christmas break.

It might be a two-day break because coach Bruce Cassidy probably spent Friday preparing for the lion’s den that awaits his team on the other side of the pause.

“It’ll be kind of nice to be away from hockey a little bit, to be honest,” Cassidy said Tuesday. “Although, you’re never really away from it because you’ll be thinking about, ‘Oh, we’re coming out of the break, who do we got? Oh, we got Colorado. Great. Thanks for bringing it up.’ There goes the 26th out the window.”

The NHL’s schedule makers must have not thought the Knights were on the “nice” list coming out of Christmas.

The Colorado Avalanche, who are on pace to have the best record in NHL history, will visit T-Mobile Arena on Saturday in the second meeting between the Western Conference powerhouses.

Colorado defeated the Knights 4-2 on Oct. 31. They won’t play again until April 11.

The Avalanche improved to 7-1-4 following that Nevada Day victory at T-Mobile Arena.

They’ve gone 20-1-3 since.

Running through the league

Colorado’s 61 points are the most by any team at the Christmas break since it started in 1972-73. The 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks earned 60 points and wound up winning the Stanley Cup.

Colorado has steamrolled its way to earning points in all but two games this season, with a 15-0-2 mark at Ball Arena in Denver and a 12-2-5 record on the road.

The Avalanche’s plus-62 goal differential is by far the best in the league. The next best team, the Dallas Stars, are a plus-35.

For context, the Knights are plus-6.

The Avalanche are playing like their namesake. They’re averaging nearly four goals per game while giving up 2.11. Both are best in the league.

Nathan MacKinnon has 30 goals and the season hasn’t hit the midway point. His 61 points are second behind Connor McDavid (67).

Martin Necas, the key return in Colorado’s trade with Carolina last season involving Mikko Rantanen, is having a career season with 47 points in 36 games.

Defenseman Cale Makar is also charging toward another Norris Trophy with 43 points.

Strong between the pipes

Goaltending, though, has been the surprise. Colorado has always been a strong defensive team that’s goalie friendly, but then there’s the season 33-year-old Scott Wedgewood is having.

The veteran already has tied his career-high with 16 wins — tied for most in the league — with a league-best 2.01 goals-against average. His .924 save percentage also is a career-high.

Wedgewood, who has made 159 career starts, is on pace to break his career-high of 32 that he set with three teams in the 2021-22 season. He had a 32-save shutout against the Utah Mammoth in a 1-0 win on Tuesday.

“There’s only one thing you can win in the regular season, and it’s not your main goal,” Wedgewood told reporters Tuesday. “With how hard this league is and how hard it is to win, if you can get yourself the top seed and home-ice, every advantage counts.”

Wedgewood carried the load without No. 1 goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, who missed the first three weeks of the season with a lower-body surgery.

Blackwood has stayed in stride with Wedgewood, going 11-1-1 with a 2.16 GAA and also a .924 save percentage.

That’s who the Knights are up against coming back from the break. That’s just the beginning.

They continue their four-game homestand Monday against the revamped Minnesota Wild, then play New Year’s Eve against the surging Nashville Predators.

So much for the relaxing holiday.

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.

Up next

■ Who: Avalanche at Golden Knights

■ When: 7 p.m. Saturday

■ Where: T-Mobile Arena

■ TV: KMCC-34

■ Radio: KFLG-FM (94.7), KKGK-AM (1340)

■ Line: Avalanche -140; total 6