The Colorado Avalanche play the second game of their quick two-game homestand against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon. It’s also the third game in five days for the boys in burgundy and blue.
Saturday’s Division Rivalry matchup will be the second matchup of the season between the Avs and Hawks. Colorado got the 1-0 edge against Chicago at the United Center back on November 23.
Colorado Avalanche (38–10–9, 85 pts)
The Avalanche recorded only the 10th regulation loss of the season last time out against the Minnesota Wild, 5–2. It came on the second leg of a back-to-back with the Utah Mammoth after the Avs traveled home.
Jared Bednar had some positives to take away from Thursday night’s game, but said no one will feel sorry for them for dropping the four-point affair. Martin Necas had both goals while Nathan MacKinnon had two assists alongside assists from Josh Manson and Gabriel Landeskog.
They might just have to do it without Joel Kiviranta, however. He left Thursday’s game after a hard hit and didn’t return. Another four-point game for Colorado is important to hold their lead over the aforementioned Wild and Dallas Stars.
Projected Lines
Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas
Gabriel Landeskog – Brock Nelson – Valeri Nichushkin
Ross Colton – Jack Drury – Victor Olofsson
Parker Kelly – Zakhar Bardakov – Gavin Brindley
Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Josh Manson – Brent Burns
Brett Kulak – Sam Malinski
Scott Wedgewood
Mackenzie Blackwood
Chicago Blackhawks (22–27–9, 53 pts)
Chicago dropped its first game out of the Olympic break on the road against the Nashville Predators 4–2 on Thursday night. It was not the right start for their four-game road trip out of the break.
Now 10 points outside of the playoffs, their shot at making a run now seems like an outside chance. Having dropped two straight games before the break, the Blackhawks are looking to get back on track. They’ve only won three of their last 10 games.
Connor Bedard still leads the way with 54 points in 45 games. Tyler Bertuzzi has also had a nice run this season with 43 points in 55 games. Both will look to lead the line to get their team back into the win column.
Projected Lines
Ryan Greene – Connor Bedard – Andre Burakovsky
Oliver Moore – Frank Nazar – Tyler Bertuzzi
Ryan Donato – Jason Dickinson – Ilya Mikheyev
Teuvo Teravainen – Nick Foligno – Landon Slaggert
Alex Vlasic – Louis Crevier
Connor Murphy – Sam Rinzel
Matt Grzelcyk – Artyom Levshunov
Spencer Knight
Arvid Soderblom
Game Details
Time: 4:00 p.m. MT
Watch: Altitude, Altitude+, CHSN (CHI), ESPN+ (Out of Market Only)
Listen: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM/AM 950
