The Colorado Avalanche get to remain at home for a little bit longer as they prepare to take on the Vancouver Canucks tonight at Ball Arena. Colorado is catching Vancouver in the second half of their back-to-back, as the Canucks played the Minnesota Wild yesterday. Here’s hoping that they capitalize on that fact and take home two points.
Colorado Avalanche (34-18-4)
After a tough road trip, the Avs were able to right the ship against the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday, winning that game 4-3. That win certainly did not come easy. Chances were exchanged throughout that game, and each team had a goal called back for offsides. Despite the craziness, Colorado held on and ultimately got the win.
Tonight’s game won’t be easy for Colorado either. Vancouver is an incredibly good hockey team. Despite them being on the second half of their back-to-back, you can not take this team for granted in any sense. Colorado will have to be opportunistic all night, and hopefully, they can separate from Vancouver early on and gain a multi-goal lead.
We saw Alexandar Georgiev get the start against Arizona, and he should get the nod here again tonight.
Projected lines
Jonathan Drouin (27) – Nathan MacKinnon (29) – Mikko Rantanen (96)
Miles Wood (28) – Ross Colton (20) – Artturi Lehkonen (62)
Zach Parise (9) – Ryan Johansen (12) – Joel Kiviranta (94)
Fredrik Olofsson (22) – Chris Wagner (14) – Andrew Cogliano (11)
Devon Toews (7) – Cale Makar (8)
Samuel Girard (49) – Josh Manson (42)
Jack Johnson (3) – Bowen Byram (4)
Alexandar Georgiev (40)
Vancouver Canucks (37-14-6)
Vancouver comes into this game on the second leg of their back-to-back. The Canucks played against the Minnesota Wild yesterday afternoon in St. Paul and ultimately lost by a final score of 7-10. That game saw Vancouver leading 5-3 after the second period, and Minnesota ultimately scored seven goals in the third to shock the Canucks. Vancouver should be looking for a bounce-back game here tonight after that collapse.
Casey DeSmith got the start yesterday for Vancouver, so it should be Thatcher Demko in net here tonight.
Projected lines
Nils Hoglander (21) – Elias Pettersson (40) – Elias Lindholm (23)
Pius Suter (24) – J.T. Miller (9) – Brock Boeser (6)
Ilya Mikheyev (65) – Teddy Blueger (53) – Conor Garland (8)
Phil Di Giuseppe (34) – Nils Aman (88) – Sam Lafferty (18)
Quinn Hughes (43) – Filip Hronek (17)
Ian Cole (82) – Tyler Myers (57)
Nikita Zadorov (91) – Noah Juulsen (47)
Thatcher Demko (35)
Broadcast details
Time: 7:00 p.m. MST.
Watch: Altitude, Sportsnet, ESPN+ (out of market only)
Listen: Altitude Sports Radio FM 92.5
Opponent’s beat: Nucks on Goal