Open Thread: Colorado Avalanche at Minnesota Wild (6:00 p.m. MT)
Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images
It’s another Colorado Avalanche game day! With the eight-game point streak coming to a halt last night, the Colorado Avalanche have an opportunity to quickly rebound on the second night of a back-to-back with a win against one of the top teams in the NHL thus far this season.
The Avs simply didn’t play well against the Blackhawks. Despite heavily outshooting Chicago, Colorado made too many mistakes defensively, as well as with the puck. Combine those mistakes with a measly two shots combined between Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Mikko Rantanen, and a snoozer of a contest against a heavily inferior opponent is the result.
“I felt like we had a lot of chances [last night], just, it seemed at times that our execution wasn’t there,” Makar said. “Whether it was through the neutral zone or D zone, also just letting them get their [blue] line easy a couple times that result in the goals.”
Minnesota will not be an easy out, and the Avs will need their superstar trio to lead the way against the Wild. They’ve been one of the NHL’s best defensive teams this season, allowing only 2.66 goals against per game this season, but have struggled with their special teams, specifically their PK which is operating at just under 71% right now.
This puts the Avs stars in a nice position to dominate after a letdown of a performance yesterday. Colorado can’t afford for their top players to be passengers tonight. The status of Jonathan Drouin remains unknown going into tonight, after missing last night’s contest for maintenance purposes. For now, he’s questionable. If he can’t go, Calvin De Haan would likely play once again tonight, and the Avs would go 11 forwards, and seven defensemen.
MacKenzie Blackwood will draw the start in net for the Avalanche tonight. Blackwood has been stellar since joining the club, boasting a 7-1-1 record along with a 1.69 GAA and a .938 save percentage. The Avs will need another solid effort from Blackwood tonight, as Minnesota has been heating back up after a bit of a December slump. Trent Miner will serve as backup.
Projected Lineup:
Jonathan Drouin (27) - Nathan MacKinnon (29) - Mikko Rantanen (96)Ross Colton (20) - Casey Mittelstadt (37) - Artturi Lehkonen (62)Joel Kiviranta (94) - Parker Kelly (17) - Logan O’Connor (25)Tye Felhaber (48) - Juuso Parssinen (16) - Jere Innala (22)
Devon Toews (7) - Cale Makar (8)Samuel Girard (49) - Josh Manson (42)Keaton Middleton (67) - Sam Malinski (70)
MacKenzie Blackwood (39)
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