DENVER — Although there were some questionable ice conditions in Dallas on Monday, both teams had to play on the surface. A hot  day, paired with some high humidity, led to some slushy ice. Either way, the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars bared through it. The game slowed down to a crawl when players could not get their footing or handle the puck. Gabriel Landeskog’s potential return to the lineup may not have helped Colorado at all.

Colorado Avalanche (1-1)

The Avalanche did not play to their identity on Monday night. The top-six has been struggling to produce offensive production lately, mainly getting greasy goals. Logan O’Connor has now tied Nathan MacKinnon for the team lead in points with his second consecutive multi-point game. Valeri Nichushkin has not produced a single point in either game. Colorado may have to mix things up on the second line and Gabriel Landeskog could be the prefect excuse to do it.


A home return by the Captain is a spart that the Avalanche need right now. Landeskog took warmups before game two on Monday, but turned out to be a healthy scratch. After over 1,020 days away from the Avalanche bench, Landeskog’s voice is just what Colorado needs at the moment.

Projected Lines

Artturi Lehkonen (62) – Nathan MacKinnon (29) – Martin Necas (88)
Jonathan Drouin (27) – Brock Nelson (11) – Valeri Nichushkin (13)
Gabriel Landeskog (92) – Charlie Coyle (10) – Logan O’Connor (25)
Parker Kelly (17) – Jack Drury (18) – Joel Kiviranta (94)

Devon Toews (7) – Cale Makar (8)
Ryan Lindgren (55) – Josh Manson (42)
Samuel Girard (49) – Erik Johnson (6)

Mackenzie Blackwood (39)
Scott Wedgewood (41)

Dallas Stars (1-1)

Dallas played with the advantage on Monday night, using the home crowd as the sixth man. As they got later into the game, the crowd only got louder. Dallas would also put pressure on the net in front of MacKenzie Blackwood. They saw the Avalanche were not clearing the defensive zone in Game 1 and dug deep. Two out of the four goals for Dallas were below the hashes, in areas that the defense should have been clearing. If Dallas wants to win Game 3, they are going to have to do the same thing along with move the puck around their own zone a lot faster.

Projected Lines

Mikael Granlund (64) – Roope Hintz (24) – Evgenii Dadonov (63)
Mason Marchment (27) – Matt Duchene (95) – Tyler Seguin (91)
Jamie Benn (14) – Wyatt Johnston (53) – Mikko Rantanen (96)
Oskar Back (10) – Sam Steel (18) – Mavrik Bourque (22)

Esa Lindell (23) – Cody Ceci (44)
Thomas Harley (55) – Ilya Lyubushkin (46)
Lian Bichsel (6) – Alex Petrovic (28)

Jake Oettinger (29)
Casey DeSmith (1)

Game Details

Time: 7:30 p.m. MT

Watch: ESPN, Altitude, Altitude+, Victory+, SN360, TVAS2

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM