Preview: Taking flight against the Ducks

10 months ago  /  Mile High Hockey

Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images


Colorado returns home after a much-needed win.
The Colorado Avalanche face off against the Anaheim Ducks Wednesday night at Ball Arena for a quick one-game home stand. Contrary to several other Avs/Ducks games in the past, this one might have a few more eyes on it across the country than usual.
This is because of the similar records and starts to the season these teams have had. The Ducks started slow but have been hot, while the Avs started hot and have gone slow since then. For once, it may be a close and competitive game between the two sides.
Colorado Avalanche
The Avs are coming off a huge, rebound win scoring five unanswered over the Seattle Kraken 5-1 on Monday night at Climate Pledge Arena. They take the season series between the two sides, and was a nice way of responding after losing their previous two games in brutal fashion.
This was thanks to some new faces in the team we have desperately hoped would take off sooner rather than later. Jonathan Drouin finally scored his first goal of the campaign, courtesy of Nathan MacKinnon of course. Tomas Tatar was also great with two primary assists. On the backend, both Caleb Jones and Sam Malinski had solid starts in their debuts.
The latter two players were been called up this morning after being sent down after the Kraken game. It means both Sam Girard and Josh Manson are still banged up, as the Avs look to go on a little run into the heart of the season.
Projected Lines
Jonathan Drouin (27) - Nathan MacKinnon (29) - Mikko Rantanen (96)Tomas Tatar (90) - Ryan Johansen (12) - Valeri Nichushkin (13)Miles Wood (28) - Ross Colton (20) - Logan O’Connor (25)Kurtis MacDermid (56) - Frederik Olofsson (22) - Joel Kiviranta (94)
Devon Toews (7) - Cale Makar (8)Jack Johnson (3) - Bowen Byram (4)Caleb Jones (82) - Sam Malinski (70)
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks of Anaheim are looking Mighty again. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games, most recently winning not even 24 hours ago in a 3-2 final on the road over the Nashville Predators.
Despite this game being the second leg of a back-to-back, the Ducks are flying high having completed their sixth third-period comeback of the season. The confidence is sky-high in this young group.
Of course, it is led by none other than the skillful Trevor Zegras and first-round pick from this year’s NHL Draft, Leo Carlsson. But, both are out injured at the moment. It is up to Troy Terry and Radko Gudas from the back to keep the hot streak going for Anaheim.
Projected Lines
Alex Killorn (17) - Adam Henrique (14) - Troy Terry (19)Frank Vatrano (77) - Mason McTavish (23) - Ryan Strome (16)Max Jones (49) - Benoit-Oliver Groulx (50) - Jakob Silfverberg (33)Ross Johnston (44) - Sam Carrick (39) - Brett Leason (20)
Cam Fowler (4) - Jackson Lacombe (60)Pavel Mintyukov (34) - Ilya Lybushkin (46)Urho Vaakainen (5) - Radko Gudas (7)
Goaltenders
It should remain Alexandar Georgiev’s net for the Avalanche, but don’t be surprised if Jared Bednar decides he wants to roll with Ivan Prosvetov either. Meanwhile, we should see Lukas Dostal for the Ducks since usual netminder John Gibson played Tuesday night in Nashville....

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