The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche are on the road to take on the Los Angeles Kings for Game 3 of their first-round series at Crypto.com Puck drop is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. MT and will be broadcast nationally on TNT.
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The Avalanche can take a stranglehold 3-0 series lead tonight on the road, where they ended the season with eight straight wins and a dominant 13-1 in their last 14 games away from Ball Arena.
We could be seeing a roster change on the Avs’ side. Ross Colton was one of the first skaters off the ice at morning skate, while Joel Kiviranta stayed out longer with the other usual healthy scratches in Zakhar Bardakov and Nick Blankenburg. If Colton draws in, it’s likely to play a top-nine role with Parker Kelly returning to a fourth line role alongside Jack Drury and Logan O’Connor. Head coach Jared Bednar would not confirm nor deny the change following the skate.
The Los Angeles Kings also appear to be making a lineup change. Andrei Kuzmenko is likely to make his playoff debut this season, replacing Mathieu Joseph in the lineup.
We are likely going to see Scott Wedgewood and Anton Forsberg both continue to start in this series. The two goalies have been spectacular through two games.
Projected Avalanche Lines (subject to change)
Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Martin Necas
Gabriel Landeskog — Brock Nelson — Valeri Nichushkin
Ross Colton — Nazem Kadri — Nicolas Roy
Parker Kelly — Jack Drury — Logan O’Connor
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Brett Kulak — Sam Malinski
Brent Burns — Josh Manson
Scott Wedgewood
Mackenzie Blackwood
Projected Kings Lines (subject to change)
Artemi Panarin — Anze Kopitar — Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore — Quinton Byfield — Alex Laferriere
Andrei Kuzmenko —Scott Laughton — Jared Wright
Joel Armia — Samuel Helenius — Jeff Malott
Mikey Anderson— Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson — Brandt Clarke
Brian Dumoulin — Cody Ceci
Anton Forsberg
Darcy Kuemper
Projected Starters (subject to change)
Expected: Scott Wedgewood (COL)
Expected: Anton Forsberg (LAK)
Avalanche Injuries
Kings Injuries
Kevin Fiala (lower leg, out for season)
How to Watch
TV: TNT, Altitude Sports (locally)
Radio: 92.5 FM
Playoff Series Head-to-Head
Game 1 vs Los Angeles Kings (W, 2-1 — COL leads series 1-0)
Game 2: vs Los Angeles Kings (W, 2-1 OT — COL leads series 2-0)
Game 3: at Los Angeles Kings (April 23 at 8 pm MT)
Game 4: at Los Angeles Kings (April 26 at 2:30 pm MT)
Game 5: vs Los Angeles Kings (April 29 if necessary)
Game 6: at Los Angeles Kings (May 1 if necessary)
Game 7: vs Los Angeles Kings (May 3 if necessary)