In a room full of excited players ready to celebrate Jarome Iginla’s next goal — No. 600 — Avalanche linemate Alex Tanguay stands out as the expert in the experience.
Tanguay played against Joe Sakic when the former Avalanche great and current general manager scored his 600th goal at Calgary in 2007. Tanguay was Sakic’s Colorado teammate when he produced his 1,000th point in 1999. And Tanguay witnessed Iginla’s 500th goal in 2012 and assisted on the Calgary goal that gave Iginla his 1,000th point in 2011.
“Those are things you remember throughout the course of your career,” Tanguay said Wednesday.
Iginla is on the cusp of becoming the 19th player to reach 600 goals. And, in storybook fashion, he has two chances to do it in Denver in front of family against marquee opponents.
Iginla, 38, could get it done Thursday against the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. Or he could do it Saturday against the Calgary Flames, the team he captained for nine years and where his legend began.
“There’s no doubt he’s going to get it, and it would be cool to see him get it against Calgary,” Avs defenseman Tyson Barrie said. “But I’m sure we could use a goal from him against Chicago.”
Iginla scored No. 599 in Sunday’s 2-1 overtime loss to Arizona, and late in Monday’s 6-3 win at San Jose, Iginla’s centerman, Nathan MacKinnon, turned down a chance to shoot on an empty net, instead passing to Iginla, whose shot was blocked by a defenseman.
“Even though it’s not our accomplishment, it’s something you want to be a part of,” Tanguay said. “How did he do it? It takes 30 goals for 20 years. He’s been scoring 30, 35 and even 50 (goals) at times. It’s pretty remarkable to get to that number. I’m hoping I’m going to get an assist on it.
Iginla’s mother, wife and three children will attend both upcoming games.
“Hopefully it happens sooner than later,” Iginla said. “When I was going for 500, you try not to think about it. But it creeps in that maybe this (shot) will be my 500th. That’s natural but I just try to play the same way — shoot and go to the net. Playing with Tangs and Mac, we’ll get some good chances. I’ll be excited if and when I do get it.”
In a perfect world, Iginla’s next goal will be a snap shot that goes top shelf or bar-down at one of the Pepsi Center nets.
“I’m not picky. I’ll take anything,” he said. “(Thursday) I’d love to get it. At home, New Year’s Eve, I’d love to. But if you ask me if I’d rather do it on the road or home, yeah, I’d rather do it at home.”
Iginla wants to get it over with. He doesn’t want the team to focus on 600 above winning hockey games.
“It’s not like going for 50 with one game left in the season. It’s a little bit different,” he said. “You want the guys — all of us — to play the right way. I don’t doubt that the guys’ heads will be in the right place.”
Barrie said his head is definitely where it should be.
“It’s a real pleasure to be around him and get to learn from him,” Barrie said of Iginla. “To be a part of 600 will be really cool. We’re all looking forward to it. It will be big.”
Mike Chambers: mchambers@denverpost.com or @mikechambers
CHICAGO AT COLORADO 6 p.m. Thursday, ALT; 950 AM
Spotlight on Patrick Kane:
The NHL’s leading scorer was stoned by the Avalanche on Dec. 15, failing to produce a point — or a shot — in Colorado’s 3-0 win at Chicago, which snapped Kane’s 26-game points streak. It was the longest streak since 1992-93, when Mats Sundin of the Nordiques had points in 30 consecutive games. In six games since, Kane has seven points — including a goal and two assists at Arizona on Tuesday.
NOTEBOOK
Blackhawks:
They began their two-game trip Tuesday with a 7-5 win at Arizona. Defenseman Duncan Keith played 24:54 and had a goal and two assists. … The Blackhawks scored three power-play goals at Arizona, making them 14-of-51 with the man advantage on the road (27.5 percent). They are 23.3 percent overall. … Chicago is 3-11 against Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov, who is 8-0 vs. the Blackhawks since 2013-14.
Avalanche:
Varlamov will start in goal after serving as the backup Monday in a 6-3 win at San Jose. No other lineup changes are expected, meaning forward Chris Wagner and defenseman Nate Guenin will be scratched. … Defenseman Brad Stuart, who has played just six games this season, is close to returning from a back injury. He returned to a full-practice routine Wednesday but won’t play against Chicago. … The Avs are 7-2 in the Central Division and 11-15-2 against the rest of the NHL. … Colorado is 9-3-1 in December.
