Preview: Back home against the Ottawa Senators
Photo by Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The first of a back-to-back at home for the Avalanche.
The Colorado Avalanche return home after a three-game West Coast road trip to host the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night. These two teams have combined for 60 goals in their last six games, and it could be another high-flying matchup tonight.
Both teams have had decent starts to the year, hovering at .500. Who will take advantage of the other in this game?
Colorado Avalanche
The Avs had a successful road trip, sweeping all three games to get back to .500. The most recent matchup came against the Utah Hockey Club for the first time in history, where they took a commanding 5-1 win on Thursday night.
The only downside to this game was the loss of Ross Colton to an upper-body injury. He did not practice Saturday, and neither did his usual linemate Miles Wood. Both of their status’ are yet to be determined for this game.
Went back and watched and looks like it might have been the follow-through of this shot attempt where the stick caught Ross Colton's hand. You can see him heading to the bench shaking his hand at the end. pic.twitter.com/9j89NfFaCR— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) October 25, 2024
If one or neither of them can go, expect the Avalanche to play 11 forwards and seven defensemen, or make a late call-up from the Colorado Eagles. In the meanwhile, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar will look to lead the home team to a fifth straight win.
Projected Lines
Ross Colton (20) - Nathan MacKinnon (29) - Mikko Rantanen (96)Nikolai Kovalenko (51) - Casey Mittelstadt (37) - Logan O’Connor (25)Miles Wood (28) - Parker Kelly (17) - Joel Kiviranta (94)Ivan Ivan (82) - Matthew Stienburg (36) - Chris Wagner (14)
Devon Toews (7) - Cale Makar (8)Sam Girard (49) - Josh Manson (42)Calvin de Haan (44) - Sam Malinski (70)
Ottawa Senators
The Sens are wrapping their own three-game road trip out to the West Coast. Their last matchup came on Friday night against the Vegas Golden Knights, where they fell in a dramatic 6-4 loss.
The @GoldenKnights scored THREE GOALS IN 85 SECONDS. How's that for a comeback?! pic.twitter.com/cnG7J2ak1F— NHL (@NHL) October 26, 2024
Ottawa’s big change in the offseason came in the crease. Linus Ullmark was the big offseason acquisition from the Boston Bruins and is now the main man in net.
Up front, Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle are the ones to lead the lines for the Sens. Can they end their road trip on a high before heading home with a win in Colorado?
Projected Lines
Brady Tkachuk (7) - Tim Stutzle (18) - Michael Amadio (22)Claude Giroux (28) - Josh Norris (9) - Drake Batherson (19)Noah Gregor (73) - Ridly Greig (71) - Nick Cousins (21)Cole Reinhardt (51) - Adam Gaudette (81) - Zack MacEwen (17)
Jake Sanderson (85) - Travis Hamonic (23)Thomas Chabot (72) - Nick Jensen (3)Tyler Kleven (43) - Jacob Bernard-Docker (24)
Goaltenders
The aforementioned Ullmark should be in the net for the Senators. As for the Avalanche, Jared Bednar did confirm Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen would split this back-to-back so expect one of those two to be in the crease tonight. If you want my two cents, I’d think it’s Annunen tonight and then Georgiev tomorrow....
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