It’s a Colorado Avalanche game day!
The Avalanche continue their longest homestand of the season with a matchup against the San Jose Sharks tonight! Ball Arena will be rocking as the Avalanche look to secure their fourth-straight victory. The Sharks and Macklin Celebrini roll into town and are still working on things, but they have found some success recently and hope to play spoiler against a surging Avalanche team. Will the Avalanche play down to their competition or take care of business?
Colorado Avalanche
It has been a season of ups and downs for Colorado, and those downs have featured some losses to teams that, simply put, the Avalanche should beat. Tonight sets up just like that, so hopefully, Jared Bednar has the guys locked in from the start. If Colorado can establish an early lead, limiting ice time for guys like Cale Makar, who are uber-important but seemingly hobbled, that would be wonderful.
Time to welcome Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks to town! #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/CjzzKIPOS5
— Mile High Hockey (@MileHighHockey) March 6, 2025
Game 63/82 could feature Colorado’s healthiest lineup of the season, with Jared Bednar hinting at Josh Manson’s return on Altitude Radio last night. It’s a good time to be healthy with playoff position on the line. I’m not too big on matchups in the playoffs, which matter a lot, but I believe if a team in the league benefits from home ice, it’s the Avalanche at altitude. Based on that, I think it should be at the top of the mind for the boys in burgundy to secure that second spot in the central division, ensuring home ice in round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That will be a tough ask with Dallas and Minnesota ahead of the Avalanche. Winning streaks usually help, though!
Projected Lineup:
Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Martin Necas
Valeri Nichushkin — Casey Mittelstadt — Jonathan Drouin
Ross Colton — Jack Drury — Joel Kiviranta
Miles Wood — Parker Kelly — Logan O’Connor
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard — Sam Malinski
Ryan Lindgren — Oliver Kylington
Josh Manson
Note: We got word that Martin Necas was playing through an illness on Tuesday, and he’s listed as day-to-day, so keep an eye on that.
San Jose Sharks
The Sharks aren’t going to make the playoffs, and they only have 17 wins this season, but they just got wins 16 and 17 in their last two contests and appear to be playing like a team with nothing to lose. That’s always dangerous, and if you add Macklin Celebrini to the mix, the Sharks aren’t as easy as on out as their record indicates. Celebrini is a shoo-in for Rookie of the Year honors and has 19 goals and 26 assists in his rookie campaign and four points over his last five contests. Not too shabby for an 18-year-old.
Projected Lineup:
William Eklund — Alex Wennberg — Tyler Toffoli
Fabian Zetterlun — Macklin Celebrini — Will Smith
Barclay Goodrow — Nico Sturm — Luke Kunin
Collin Graf — Ty Dellandrea — Klim Kostin
Jake Walman — Timothy Liljegren
Mario Ferraro — Shakir Mukhamadullin
Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Jack Thompson
Goaltenders
MacKenzie Blackwood is the confirmed starter after Scott Wedgwood spelled him in a victory over the Penguins. Blackwood will face his former club, and I bet Alexandar Georgiev will, too. Intrigue.