A rematch of the 1996 Stanley Cup Final will take place on Thursday night as the Colorado Avalanche battle the Florida Panthers. It will also be a night that the Avalanche celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Stanley Cup victory with over 15 former players in attendance. The Panthers will roll into town on a three-game win streak as the Avs will attempt to recover from their shootout loss on Tuesday night. Fans could see the return of forward Gavin Brindley to the lineup missing nine games with a lower body-injury. Unfortunately, Scott Wedgewood’s status is uncertain after leaving the game for concussion protocol.

Colorado Avalanche (21–2–7, 49 pts)

The Avalanche wrapped up a four-game road trip against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night. We saw an intense first period with four goals scored in the first 10 minutes of the game. Brock Nelson continued to roll with 11th goal of the season. The Predators answered back with two goals themselves. Artturi Lehkonen scored later in the first in his typical hard-working fashion down low near the crease. Brady Skjei took the lead for the Predators late in the third, but Cale Makar scored with only eight seconds left in the game on the power play. It was his first power-play goal of the season. Later in the shootout, Filip Forsberg ran into Scott Wedgewood, forcing the Avalanche goaltender to be pulled for concussion protocol and losing in the shootout 4–3.

Projected Lines

Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas
Ross Colton – Brock Nelson – Gabriel Landeskog
Valeri Nichushkin – Jack Drury – Victor Olofsson
Parker Kelly – Zakhar Bardakov – Gavin Brindley

Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Josh Manson – Brent Burns
Samuel Girard – Sam Malinski

Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood

Florida Panthers (15–12–2, 32 pts)

The Panthers walked out of Salt Lake City on Wednesday night with a 4–3 victory, increasing their win streak to three games. Sam Bennett, who signed an eight-year extension over the summer, scored two goals to solidify the Panthers lead. Dylan Guenther of the Utah Mammoth also had two goals himself. This season proved challenging for the Panthers. Three Stanley Cup runs display wear upon certain core players. Matthew Tkachuk has not played a game this season, out long-term with an injury that he suffered during the Four Nations Face-off. Their captain, Aleksander Barkov, suffered an ACL injury during the preseason and won’t be available until the end of the season.

Projected Lines

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Brad Marchand
Mackie Samoskevich – Evan Rodrigues – A.J. Greer
Jesper Boqvist – Jack Studnicka – Noah Gregor

Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Jeff Petry – Uvis Balinskis

Sergei Bobrovsky
Daniil Tarasov

 

Game Details

Time: 7:30 p.m. MT

Watch: ESPN

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM/AM 950