The Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings kick off the season with a rematch from last season’s opener. It will be the first of three meetings between the two clubs after meeting in the first round of the playoffs last season. This year also marks the third time in four years that the Avs and the Kings have opened the season against each other. Last season, the Avs beat the Kings 4–1 in a battle in LA.

Colorado Avalanche (0–0–0)

The Avalanche are being forced into an 11–7 setup on opening night already because of injuries. Logan O’Connor, Zachary L’Heureux, Taylor Makar, Trent Miner and Georgii Merkulov have all hit the injured-reserve list. On the bright side, T.J. Hughes will get his NHL debut out of it. Hughes is one of the most anticipated prospects that the Avs have had in several years. He is due to be on the third-line and also on the first power play unit. MacKenzie Blackwood, after missing the start of last season, will probably get the start for the Avs on Wednesday night. He will battle to take the reins back as the starting goaltender for the Avs after a poor performance last season.

Projected Lines

Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas
Gabriel Landeskog – Brock Nelson – Nazem Kadri
Jaden Schwartz – Fedor Svechkov – T.J. Hughes
Noah Juulsen – Parker Kelly – Nicolas Roy

Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Brett Kulak – Sam Malinski
Josh Manson – Brent Burns

Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood

Los Angeles Kings (0–0–0)

The Kings are in a similar boat with injuries already as well. Forward Kevin Fiala, who suffered an injury during the Winter Olympics, remains out of the lineup. Veterans Joel Edmundson and Corey Perry are both out with injuries but are day-to-day. The Kings went for heavy and looked for skill this offseason. They added Mats Zuccarello and Erik Haula for depth. Both players should add skill down the wing and middle and grit with Haula. It will definitely make the Kings more difficult to play against from now on.

Projected Lines

Artemi Panarin – Quinton Byfield – Adrian Kempe
Mats Zuccarello – Alex Turcotte – Alex Laferriere
Trevor Moore – Scott Laughton – Erik Haula
Andre Lee – Samuel Helenius – Joel Armia

Erik Gustafsson – Brandt Clarke
Brian Dumoulin – Drew Doughty
Mikey Anderson – Cody Ceci

Darcy Kuemper
Anton Forsberg

Game Details

Time: 6 p.m. MT
Watch: TNT, HBO/Max
Listen: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM/AM 950