Preview: Avs visit Naz Kadri and the Flames in Calgary

The Avalanche were shut out by the Canucks in their last game. How will they respond in Calgary?

The Colorado Avalanche will continue their road trip before the Four Nations break with a showdown with former Avalanche Nazem Kadri and the Calgary Flames tonight at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Can the Avs get back in the win column, or will the Flames play spoiler?

Colorado Avalanche

Colorado’s loss to Vancouver was frustrating, but the scoreline wasn’t all that telling of the game’s flow. Much like Colorado’s first period against the Flyers last week, the Avalanche played well but couldn’t put the puck in the net. The Vancouver game featured the red posts far too often and bailed the Canucks out if you asked me. The not-so-smart penalties by Miles Wood certainly didn’t help, but let’s remember the Avalanche were plenty dangerous on Tuesday.

I stand by everything said in that last paragraph, but make no mistake: Posts don’t win games, and two points and victory are all that matter in a window of games that Jared Bednar has posed we treat like “playoff games.” Let’s see how the Avalanche respond against a Calgary team that is -16 and ranked 23rd in goal differential this season.

Projected Lineup:

Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Martin Necas
Jonathan Drouin — Casey Mittelstadt — Juuso Parssinen
Miles Wood — Jack Drury — Ross Colton
Joel Kiviranta — Parker Kelly — Logan O’Connor

Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard — Josh Manson
Keaton Middleton — Sam Malinski

Note: Josh Manson is listed as a “game-time decision” via Daily Faceoff.

Calgary Flames

The Flames are vying for a wild card and playoff position along with Colorado’s last opponent, the Canucks. Colorado holds the WC1 position with a five-point lead in Calgary and Vancouver. The worrisome part is both clubs have two games in hand on Colorado. The last thing the Avalanche wants to do is slide into that WC2 and make this a real competition for playoff position.

Keep an eye on old friend Nazem Kadri, who is playing excellent hockey alongside his linemates Jonathan Huberdeau and Joel Farabee. Kadri sits just two goals shy of 20 on the season, and getting to that mark would mean doing so every season since his breakout campaign with Colorado in 2021-22.

Projected Lineup:

Jonathan Huberdeau — Nazem Kadri — Joel Farabee
Blake Coleman — Mikael Backlund — Matt Coronato
Yegor Sharangovich — Morgan Frost — Martin Pospisil
Ryan Lomberg — Kevin Rooney — Adam Klapka

Joel Hanley — Rasmus Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar — Daniil Miromanov
Jake Bean — Brayden Pachal

Goaltenders

Mackenzie Blackwood will likely be net again, and Dustin Wolf will be the confirmed starter for Calgary. Safe to say, with just two more games before the break, it’s okay to give Mackenzie a start after the start on the way out, especially considering how well he’s been performing in Colorado.