The new-look Colorado Avalanche will take on the hot Dallas Stars for the first time since October 11th. To say this game will be anything like the last one is putting it mildly. The Stars are the hottest team in the NHL, winning their last 10 games, while the Avalanche are 6–4–0 in their last 10. Over the next month, the Avs and Stars will meet three times in a race for points and the first spot in the Central Division.

Colorado Avalanche (41–10–9, 91 pts)

After a couple of hectic days in the trade market, the Avalanche now have a seventh defenseman and a new third-line center. However, the Avalanche might not have finished with the deadline at 1 p.m. MT on Friday afternoon. The new center Nic Roy will meet the team in Dallas, but he may not play. Immigration paperwork could hold him back. The Avalanche are coming off a 5–1 victory against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. Colorado had four different goal scorers, including a “disappointing” performance from Gabriel Landeskog. The captain scored his second goal in as many games. If Roy can clear his immigration paperwork in time, the Avs will not have to call a player up; otherwise, we could see the debut of Nick Blankenburg as the seventh defenseman.

Projected Lines

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

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

Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood

Dallas Stars (38–14–9, 85 pts)

The Stars have made only one major move so far before the trade deadline. They traded for defenseman Tyler Myers from the Vancouver Canucks. This strengthens an already solid blue line with a big man who throws his body around. Dallas also won on Tuesday night, beating the Calgary Flames 6–1. Jamie Benn, who missed a good portion of the season, scored his 10th of the year. It was their 10 straight win, going into before the Olympic break. And now they are doing it all without former Avalanche star Mikko Rantanen, who suffered an injury during the Olympics.

Projected Lines

Jason Robertson – Roope Hintz – Wyatt Johnston
Sam Steel – Matt Duchene – Jamie Benn
Adam Erne – Justin Hryckowian – Colin Blackwell
Oskar Back– Arttu Hyry – Nathan Bastian

Esa Lindell – Miro Heiskanen
Thomas Harley – Nils Lundkvist
Lian Bichsel – Ilya Lyubushkin

Jake Oettinger
Casey DeSmith

Game Details

Time: 6:00 p.m. MT

Watch: Altitude, Altitude+, Victory+, ESPN+ (Out of Market Only)

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM/AM 950