The Colorado Avalanche are at home for a quick two-game homestand this week as they prepare to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs today. This is the second and final regular season matchup between these two clubs, with Colorado taking the previous game by a final score of 5-3.
Colorado Avalanche (35-18-5)
Coloradoās road woes unfortunately persist, as they are coming off of a 2-1 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Justus Annunen got the start in net for that game and played incredibly well. However, Alex Lyon also played well for Detroit, and Colorado was ultimately unable to muster up more than the lone goal, which was scored by Nathan MacKinnon.
Since Annunen got the start on Thursday, it should be Alexandar Georgiev in net tonight. Heāll need to be sharp against a Toronto team thatās on a hot streak right now. We’ll also see the status of Fredrik Olofsson and Andrew Cogliano come game time, with both under the weather.
Projected Lines
Jonathan Drouin (27) – Nathan MacKinnon (29) – Mikko Rantanen (96)
Miles Wood (28) – Ross Colton (20) – Logan OāConnor (25)
Artturi Lehkonen (62) – Ryan Johansen (12) – Zach Parise (9)
Kurtis MacDermid (56) – Chris Wagner (14) – Joel Kiviranta (94)
Devon Toews (7) – Cale Makar (8)
Samuel Girard (49) – Josh Manson (42)
Jack Johnson (3) – Bowen Byram (4)
Alexandar Georgiev (40)
Toronto Maple Leafs (32-16-8)
Toronto comes into this game off of a 7-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. They are on a bit of a hot streak, having won six games in a row now. Auston Matthews also scored two goals in their last game, bringing his season goal total to 51.
Morgan Reilly returned from his suspension last game for the Leafs as well, so heāll be in the lineup again here tonight. You don’t want to get into a track meet against this Toronto team, but the Avalanche will have to muster more than one goal here tonight.
Projected lines
Matthew Knies (23) – Auston Matthews (34) – Mitch Marner (16)
Tyler Bertuzzi (59) – Max Domi (11) – William Nylander (88)
Bobby McMann (74) – John Tavares (91) – Nicholas Robertson (89)
Pontus Holmberg (29) – David Kampf (64) – Ryan Reaves (75)
T.J. Brodie (78) – Timothy Liljegren (37)
Morgan Reilly (44) – William Lagesson (85)
Simon Benoit (2) – Jake McCabe (22)
Ilya Samsonov (35)
Broadcast details
Time: 5:00 p.m. MST
Watch: Altitude, Sportsnet, NHL Network
Listen: Altitude Sports Radio FM 92.5
Opponentās Beat: Bay St. Blues