Preview: Avs look to go perfect on back-to-back against Anaheim

After winning 4-2 against the Los Angeles Kings yesterday, courtesy of a late third-period go-ahead goal from Devon Toews, the Colorado Avalanche are back at it again tonight as they take on the Anaheim Ducks on the second leg of a back-to-back. This will be the third and final regular-season game between these two teams.

Colorado Avalanche

Colorado kicked off their second back-to-back in seven nights against the Kings yesterday. The visitors managed to build a two-goal lead early in the first period, but LA was able to come back and ultimately tie the game at 2-2. Devon Toews would be the one to give the Avs the lead back late in the third period, off a beautiful pass from Nathan MacKinnon to set him up. The Avalanche won 4-2 and in doing so was the first team in the NHL to reach the 40 win milestone.

The other big piece of news during the game last night was, of course, Artturi Lehkonen going out during the game. He won’t be playing tonight in Anaheim and is going to miss some time. If Joel Kiviranta, who is still dealing with his own upper-body injury, can’t play they are going to need the services of an extra forward, which is Jason Polin who was called up from the Colorado Eagles this morning.

Projected Lineup

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

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

Scott Wedgewood
Mackenzie Blackwood

Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks come into this game off a 3-2 shootout win over the Calgary Flames on Sunday, and are currently locked in a battle for the top spot in the Pacific Division, sitting just one point behind the Vegas Golden Knights for that spot. The Ducks are an incredibly fun and talented team, with a phenomenal goaltender in Lukas Dostal. They’ve shown that they can certainly be competitive, as they’re competing for the top spot in the Pacific, and every point matters to this team at this point. Colorado is perfectly capable of beating this team, but it’ll certainly be easier said than done.

Projected Lineup

Chris Kreider – Leo Carlsson – Cutter Gauthier
Jeffrey Viel – Mason McTavish – Beckett Sennecke
Alex Killorn – Ryan Poehling – Jansen Harkins
Ross Johnston – Tim Washe – Ian Moore

Jackson LaCombe – Jacob Trouba
Olen Zellweger – Radko Gudas
Pavel Mintyukov – Drew Helleson

Lukas Dostal
Ville Husso