Preview: Avalanche look to stay hot on road against Panthers
Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images
Colorado looks to win its third straight game visiting the defending Cup champs.
It’s an Avalanche game day!
The Colorado Avalanche are back in action in Sunrise, Florida, where they’ll play visitor to the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers. The Avs will look to officially begin a streak with a win this evening, as well as a 3-0-0 start to the road trip. Following a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals Thursday evening, As for the Panthers, they also played Thursday, falling 3-1 on the road to the Chicago Blackhawks. The Panthers will be looking for a bounce-back performance on home ice, and against the defending champs, the Avs will have their work cut out for them tonight.
Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche will be looking to extend their win streak to three games and remain perfect on this current road trip tonight. After holding on to defeat the struggling Philadelphia Flyers on Monday and turning in a victory after a sloppy performance against the Capitals on Thursday, the Avs will be looking to put together their A game tonight, against what will be the toughest opponent they see on this road trip.
The top six has to come to play for the Avs to have a chance tonight, as an early start against the Panthers is not easy to climb out of. Much like the 2022 Cup-winning Avalanche, the Panthers are able to come at other teams in any way they need to in order to secure a win, including high-octane offense. The stars will need to put in a complete effort to keep up with an explosive Panthers team looking to bounce back on home ice.
Alexandar Georgiev will get the nod once again tonight. He was solid in Washington Thursday, turning aside 28 of 29 shots en route to the win, only allowing a goal on a 2-on-1 rush after some sloppy defensive zone errors in front of him. The Panthers have the firepower to make the Avs pay routinely if they play sloppily in their own zone, so the Avs will need to return the favor and remain sharp defensively for Georgiev, who has been sharp between the pipes in his own right as of late.
Projected Lineup:
Artturi Lehkonen (62) - Nathan MacKinnon (29) - Jonathan Drouin (27)Valeri Nichushkin (13) - Casey Mittelstadt (37) - Mikko Rantanen (96)Joel Kiviranta (94) - Ivan Ivan (82) - Logan O’Connor (25)Miles Wood (28) - Parker Kelly (17) - Nikolai Kovalenko (51)
Devon Toews (7) - Cale Makar (8)Samuel Girard (49) - Josh Manson (42)Oliver Kylington (58) - Sam Malinski (70)
Alexandar Georgiev (40)Justus Annunen (60)
Florida Panthers
Conversely, the Panthers come into tonight’s contest on a two-game losing skid, hoping to not extend it to three games. Their two losses come in the form of a 6-3 loss in Winnipeg to the Jets Tuesday evening, followed up by their aforementioned 3-1 loss in Chicago to the Blackhawks on Thursday.
Looking to bounce back, the Panthers will shuffle their lines a bit heading into tonight’s contest. Up front, Carter Verhaeghe will drop down to the third line, while Eetu Luostarinen will move up to the second line. Jesper Boqvist will drop down to center the fourth line, and winger Mackie Samoskevich will be promoted up to the third line. Jonah Gadjovich will slot into the fourth line right-wing spot, bumping Tomas Nosek out of the lineup. On the backend, Adam Boqvist replaces Nate Schmidt.
After Spencer Knight allowed 2 goals on 19 shots to the Blackhawks Thursday evening, expect the Panthers to turn back to Sergei Bobrovsky. Bobrovsky has struggled a bit this season. With a 9-4-1 record, Bobrovsky is sitting at a 2.98 goals-against average and a .893 save percentage. Both marks are a far cry from last season’s averages of a 2.37 GAA and a .915 SV%, but the explosive offensive attack the Panthers boast has remained consistent, helping along his record.
Projected Lineup:
Evan Rodrigues (17) - Aleksander Barkov (16) - Sam Reinhart (13)Eetu Luostarinen (27) - Sam Bennett (9) - Matthew Tkachuk (19)Carter Verhaeghe (23) - Anton Lundell (15) - Mackie Samoskevich (25)A.J. Greer (10) - Jesper Boqvist (70) - Jonah Gadjovich (12)
Gustav Forsling (42) - Aaron Ekblad (5)Niko Mikkola (77) - Dimitry Kulikov (7)Uvis Balinskis (26) - Adam Boqvist (34)
Sergei Bobrovsky (72)Spencer Knight (30)
Where to Watch
This game will be broadcast on Altitude, Altitude+, and ESPN+ for out-of-market viewers. For radio listeners, tune into Altitude Sports Radio, 92.5 FM....
Want the trending hockey news in your inbox daily?.
Just add your email, and we'll start sending you the most important hockey news of the day.
