It’s an Avalanche game day!
It’s an Avalanche game day!
After the Colorado Avalanche were turned aside by the Dallas Stars in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last spring, the Avs and Stars will meet for the first time this season. With both teams coming into this contest with disastrous performances in the rearview, the Avs will be looking to build on the success of their bounceback performance against the Vegas Golden Knights, while the Stars look to start their own bounceback after falling to the Chicago Blackhawks Wednesday 6-2.
Colorado Avalanche:
The Avs will be looking to turn Thanksgiving week into a success despite their drubbing in Tampa on Monday with a win in Dallas to pair with their victory at home against Vegas. Unfortunately they’ll be making that effort with a newly depleted lineup, as both Jonathan Drouin and Miles Wood are out due to injury and the latter was placed on injured reserve again this week.
The team has learned to play without these two wingers, and guys who stepped up earlier in the season will need to find a way to contribute yet again. Chris Wagner will step into Wood’s spot on the fourth line alongside Chase Bradley, who played a solid game in his NHL debut against the Golden Knights.
On the blue line, Oliver Kylington has looked much better in his last two games than his disastrous early season start, but picked up an injury as well and didn’t make the trip to Dallas. Calvin de Haan will need to bounce back from a rough Lightning game to solidify the bottom pair.
Expect to see Alexandar Georgiev in net. There’s no way to know which version of him we’ll get, but if the Avs play impeccable defense like they did against Vegas, it shouldn’t matter too much.
Projected Lines:
Artturi Lehkonen (62) – Nathan MacKinnon (29) – Valeri Nichushkin (13)
Ivan Ivan (82) – Casey Mittelstadt (37) – Mikko Rantanen (96)
Joel Kiviranta (94) – Parker Kelly (17) – Nikolai Kovalenko (51)
Chase Bradley (38) – Chris Wagner (14) – Logan O’Connor (25)
Devon Toews (7) – Cale Makar (8)
Samuel Girard (49) – Josh Manson (42)
Calvin de Haan (44) – Sam Malinski (70)
Alexandar Georgiev (40)
Follow along with the comments below!