Can Colorado finally put it all together and get a win?
The Colorado Avalanche continue to chase that ever-elusive first win of the season, as they welcome the Anaheim Ducks to Denver tonight. This will be the first of three matchups between these two teams this season, and wrap up Colorado’s current homestand.
Friday night hockey in Ball Arena, with the Avs looking to take flight over the Ducks! #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/OWVU7X4h6f
— Mile High Hockey (@MileHighHockey) October 18, 2024
Colorado Avalanche
Much of the story remains the same for Colorado heading into this game. They are still chasing that first win of the season. There’s been some different little bits and pieces to pick out and arguably like about each game, but it feels like they haven’t been able to put it all together cohesively in one game yet. If they’re able to do that against the Ducks here tonight, that would be a great place to start.
On a more positive note, it seems like there won’t be another name joining the already extensive list of injuries that Colorado has after all. Miles Wood was shaken up on a hit from Elias Lindholm last game against the Boston Bruins. At the time, I think it’s pretty fair to say that a lot of people, myself included, automatically assumed that he’d miss some time because it looked bad in the moment. However, his injury isn’t believed to be serious, and there’s even a possibility he’ll play tonight, which is a huge relief.
Miles Wood injury is not believed to be serious. Sounds like there’s a possibility he plays tomorrow.
Toews and Drouin will not. No timeline on Drouin yet.
— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) October 17, 2024
Projected Lineup
Ross Colton – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen
Miles Wood – Casey Mittelstadt – Logan O’Connor
Nikolai Kovalenko – Parker Kelly – Calum Ritchie
Ivan Ivan – Matthew Stienburg – Joel Kiviranta
Oliver Kylington – Cale Makar
Samuel Girard – Josh Manson
Calvin De Haan – Sam Malinski
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks are coming off of an overtime thriller, which saw them beat the Utah Hockey Club by a final score of 5-4. Leo Carlsson was the hero in that game for Anaheim, as he was able to get behind the defense and put it home for the Ducks.
LEOOOOOOOOOOOOO
GOOD NIGHT ORANGE COUNTRY! #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/Ly8OVERopT
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) October 17, 2024
This Ducks team is certainly nothing to scoff at, as they are no doubt young and skilled. Will Colorado be able to neutralize Anaheim’s offensive talent and find some more offense themselves?
Projected Lines
Robby Fabbri – Mason McTavish – Trevor Zegras
Frank Vatrano – Ryan Strome – Troy Terry
Cutter Gauthier – Leo Carlsson – Alex Killorn
Brock McGinn – Isac Lundestrom – Brett Leason
Cam Fowler – Tristan Luneau
Olen Zellweger – Radko Gudas
Pavel Mintyukov – Brian Dumoulin
Goaltenders
It will likely be Alexandar Georgiev in net tonight as he continues to work through his funk, with Lukas Dostal going across from him as well.