Open Thread: Colorado Avalanche vs. Winnipeg Jets (7:00 p.m.)
Photo by Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images
It’s a Colorado Avalanche gameday!
After a brief skid featuring two overtime losses and one in regulation, Colorado returned home. It knocked off the Anaheim Ducks with a reconfigured lineup that sparked one of Nathan MacKinnon’s best games of the season. With the Winnipeg Jets in town riding a two-game win streak and a few healthy bodies back in the lineup, the Avalanche will look to improve on the energy from the Ducks game to ground the Jets.
Colorado Avalanche
The Avs have been consistently playing to the level of their opponents in recent weeks, which is ostensibly a good thing for tonight’s game since Winnipeg has been playing quite well. But several Avalanche players need to bring their best selves in the way Nate did against the Ducks to beat a much better team — just one line scoring all the goals won’t cut it against the deeper, more veteran Jets.
Cale Makar’s likely return from a 1.25-game injury absence should help, and Bowen Byram and Andrew Cogliano are also expected back. Valeri Nichushkin is expected to miss his second straight contest due to an illness, so the top line that worked so well against Anaheim will likely stay together in MacKinnon with Jonathan Drouin and Logan O’Connor.
Projected Lineup
Jonathan Drouin — Nathan MacKinnon — Logan O’ConnorTomas Tatar — Ross Colton — Mikko RantanenMiles Wood — Ryan Johansen— Joel KivirantaAndrew Cogliano— Fredrik Olofsson
Cale Makar — Devon ToewsBo Byram— Josh MansonJack Johnson — Sam MalinskiCaleb Jones
Alexandar Georgiev
Winnipeg Jets Projected Lineup
Kyle Connor — Mark Scheifele — Nikolaj EhlersCole Perfetti — Gabriel Vilardi — Alex IafalloNino Niederreiter — Adam Lowry — Mason AppletonMorgan Barron — David Gustafsson — Axel Jonsson-Fjallby
Josh Morrissey — Dylan DeMeloBrenden Dillon — Neal PionkDylan Samberg — Logan Stanley
Connor Hellebuyck
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