Amidst all the chaos of trades this morning, the Colorado Avalanche still has a game of hockey to play.
Wednesday night, they play host to the Detroit Red Wings on national TV. The lineup will look a little different than it has been in the last little while. Check it out below.
Colorado Avalanche (38-20-5)
The Avs are coming off a necessary but important 5-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night. It was the second 5-0 shutout in five days against the Hawks, and another shutout for Justus Annunen.
He will take the night off for Alexandar Georgiev, getting his spot back in the crease ahead of him who will have a very different lineup ahead of him. This is thanks to trades involving Bowen Byram to the Buffalo Sabres for Casey Mittelstadt, and Ryan Johansen being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Sean Walker.
Neither Mittelstadt nor Walker will be in Denver in time to play tonight and needed two holes to fill. Hence, we will see Ondrej Pavel and Jean-Luc Foudy tonight to take on the Red Wings looking for revenge for their last 2-1 OT loss in Detroit on February 22.
Projected Lines
Artturi Lehkonen (62) – Nathan MacKinnon (29) – Mikko Rantanen (96)
Zach Parise (9) – Ross Colton (20) – Jonathan Drouin (27)
Miles Wood (28) – Jean-Luc Foudy (93) – Joel Kiviranta (94)
Ondrej Pavel (26) – Chris Wagner (14) – Andrew Cogliano (11)
Devon Toews (7) – Cale Makar (8)
Sam Girard (49) – Josh Manson (42)
Caleb Jones (82) – Jack Johnson (3)
Alexandar Georgiev (40)
Detroit Red Wings (33-22-6)
Detroit is coming to town off the back of a brutal 4-0 loss to the Florida Panthers on Saturday afternoon on national TV. They were dismantled on home ice, and the game took a turn for the worse with scrums and penalties galore.
It all comes after a long six-game winning streak for the Wings, who have now lost their last two games. This game is the first of a four-game road trip, important for keeping them up in the playoff race.
They will be without their captain, Dylan Larkin, who is out injured with a lower-body injury. Hence, the pressure will be put on J.T. Compher in his return to Denver to lead the Avs’ biggest old-time rival against his old club to victory.
Projected Lines
Alex DeBrincat (93) – Joe Velano (90) – Patrick Kane (88)
Michael Rasmussen (27) – J.T. Compher (37) – Lucas Raymond (23)
Robby Fabbri (14) – Christian Fischer (36) – David Perron (57)
Klim Kostin (24) – Andrew Copp (18) – Daniel Sprong (17)
Jake Walman (96) – Mortiz Seider (53)
Ben Chiarot (8) – Jeff Petry (46)
Olli Maata (2) – Shayne Gostisbehere (41)
Alex Lyon (34)
Broadcast Details
Time: 7:30 p.m. MT
Watch: Altitude (In Market Only), TNT, MAX (Out of Market Only)
Listen: Altitude Sports Radio FM 92.5
Opponent’s Beat: Wingin’ It Motown