The Colorado Avalanche is not expected to make any changes to its lineup this afternoon when it hosts the Los Angeles Kings at Ball Arena.
Colorado won the first matchup of the two-game set against Los Angeles on Friday. Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist while Philipp Grubauer stopped all 18 shots he faced to record his fourth shutout of the year in the Avalanche’s 2-0 victory. Nathan MacKinnon also scored in the win.
Grubauer has started 21 of Colorado’s 25 games, the first Avalanche netminder to start at least 20 of the team’s first 25 games since 2012-13 (Semyon Varlamov, also 21). So far this season, Grubauer is tied for second in the NHL in wins (14) and ranks sixth in goals-against average (1.95). The German netminder is also tied for first in the league with a career-high four shutouts, the most by an Avalanche goaltender since 2014-15 (Varlamov, five).
The Avalanche has outshot its opponents 127-46 over the last three games, including by a 46-18 margin on Friday. It was the 15th consecutive game that the Avs had held their opponent to fewer than 30 shots, a new franchise record.
Colorado currently has seven players on its injured list, but Bowen Byram (upper body) and J.T. Compher (upper body) took part in Friday’s pre-game practice in red, non-contact jerseys. Head coach Jared Bednar said recently that Byram will probably be the first skater from the team’s injured group to return to the lineup. Defensemen Dennis Gilbert (upper body), Cale Makar (upper body) and Conor Timmins (upper body) have also been skating on their own. Erik Johnson (upper body) and Pavel Francouz (lower body) remain out long term.
Puck drop is set for 3:30 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on NBCSN. It is the Avalanche’s first afternoon game at Ball Arena this season.
Colorado has played two day contests so far (1-1-0), although the outdoor game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Feb. 20 at Lake Tahoe didn’t finish until well into the night. The Avs were 4-0-0 in day games last season, 2-0-0 at home and have posted a 11-3-1 mark in home afternoon games since the start of 2017-18.
Below is the Avalanche’s projected lineup based on the forward combinations and defensive pairings from the start of Friday’s game. They are subject to change.
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog – 29 Nathan MacKinnon – 96 Mikko Rantanen
20 Brandon Saad – 91 Nazem Kadri – 95 Andre Burakovsky
13 Valeri Nichushkin – 17 Tyson Jost – 72 Joonas Donskoi
11 Matt Calvert – 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – 25 Logan O’Connor
Defensemen
34 Jacob MacDonald – 49 Samuel Girard
27 Ryan Graves – 7 Devon Toews
2 Dan Renouf – 5 Greg Pateryn
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
32 Hunter Miska
Taxi Squad: Kyle Burroughs, Peyton Jones, Jayson Megna, Kiefer Sherwood
Injury Report: Bowen Byram (upper body), J.T. Compher (upper body), Pavel Francouz (lower body), Dennis Gilbert (upper body), Erik Johnson (upper body), Cale Makar (upper body), Conor Timmins (upper body)