The Colorado Avalanche headed North of the border last night to face off against the Edmonton Oilers. This is only the second time these two have faced off this season, with the first of these two coming a couple of weeks ago in a thrilling game.
Sean Walker’s two goals led the way in a 3-2 overtime win, alongside Artturi Lehkonen’s last-second winner. The Avs will be looking for a repeat performance against another solid Western Conference team.
Colorado Avalanche (48-22-6)
Colorado played last night against the Minnesota Wild and came out victorious 5-2. Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon both recorded three-point nights while Justus Annunen stood on his head with 44 saves in the win.
It all but ended the Wild’s playoff chances, and kept the Avs in touch with the Dallas Stars ahead of them. With every game being even more important than the previous one, it’s now or never for Colorado to win the Central Division.
While the team got to Canada late last night, one guy should be fully rested and ready to go. Alexandar Georgiev has nearly had an entire week off and will be looking for a high-quality performance with the team ahead of him looking to find their legs early in this one. They might also see the returns of Yakov Trenin and Valeri Nichushkin to help them out. Can they accomplish this feat?
Projected Lines
Jonathan Drouin (27) – Nathan MacKinnon (29) – Mikko Rantanen (96)
Artturi Lehkonen (62) – Casey Mittelstadt (37) – Valeri Nichushkin (13)
Miles Wood (28) – Ross Colton (20) – Zach Parise (9)
Andrew Cogliano (11) – Yakov Trenin (73) – Brandon Duhaime (12)
Devon Toews (7) – Cale Makar (8)
Sam Girard (49) – Josh Manson (42)
Jack Johnson (3) – Sean Walker (26)
Alexandar Georgiev (40)
Edmonton Oilers (45-24-5)
The Oilers come into this game off the back of a brutal 5-0 loss away to the Dallas Stars. It was their second straight loss, coming at the worst of times as they are still trying to catch the Vancouver Canucks at the top of the Pacific Division.
Hence, they should be angry coming into this game. Of course, as good as Connor McDavid already is in his career, an angry McDavid will not make the task any easier for the Avalanche.
But, the benefit for Colorado is this is the first of a back-to-back for Edmonton, who travel to face the Calgary Flames tomorrow night. Regardless, can the Oilers get back to winning ways and hurt another Western Conference opponent’s playoff ranking?
Projected Lines
Leon Draisaitl (29) – Connor McDavid (97) – Zach Hyman (18)
Adam Henrique (19) – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (93) – Warren Foegele (37)
Evander Kane (91) – Ryan McLeod (71) – Corey Perry (90)
Mattias Janmark (13) – Derek Ryan (10) – Connor Brown (28)
Mattias Ekholm (14) – Evan Bouchard (2)
Darnell Nurse (25) – Cody Ceci (5)
Brett Kulak (27) – Vincent Desharnais (73)
Stuart Skinner (74)
Broadcast Details
Time: 7:00 p.m. MT
Watch: Altitude, SN, ESPN+ (Out of Market Only)
Listen: Altitude Sports Radio FM 92.5