Tonight, the Colorado Avalanche welcome the Anaheim Ducks to Ball Arena in downtown Denver, CO, for an inter-divisional matchup between a budding group and a grizzled powerhouse. The Avalanche got back in the win column against the Washington Capitals by the score of 5-2 after finally dropping their first regulation win at home. The Ducks are a bit of a surprise success this season and have won four in a row as they arrive in the Mile High City. Will the Ducks cruise at altitude, or will the Avalanche reign supreme?

Colorado Avalanche: 34-5-8

The Opponent: Anaheim Ducks 25-21-3

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Time: 7:00 p.m. MT

Watch: Altitude, Altitude+, ESPN+

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio, 92.5 FM

Colorado Avalanche

The boys in burgundy and blue aren’t exactly desperate for a win or involved in an intense race for the division lead, but it’s never good to give up 7 goals to a divisional opponent on home ice. That’s exactly what happened when the Nashville Predators came into town. The question then became, how would they respond?

Well, they responded by beating the Capitals seemingly (respectfully) with ease. It felt like they were back to business as usual and had shaken off the remaining rust accrued over a long break by the third period.

Good news on the injury front and some clarification in terms of Val Nichushkin and being involved in a vehicle collision, as Jared Bednar says Devon Toews will be an option Sunday against the Leafs, Landeskog is progressing nicely, and Val Nichushkin is “going to go tonight.”

Look for the Avalanche to shut things down defensively and try to buck the trend of slow starts tonight against the Ducks. It would be nice to get back to scoring inside the first minute of the game again, but that’s just my opinion.

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Projected Lineup:

Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Martin Necas
Ross Colton — Brock Nelson — Valeri Nichushkin
Parker Kelly — Jack Drury — Victor Olofsson
Taylor Makar — Zakhar Bardakov — Gavin Brindley

Sam Malinski — Cale Makar
Josh Manson — Brent Burns
Jack Ahcan — Samuel Girard

Scott Wedgewood
MacKenzie Blackwood

Anaheim Ducks

It’s currently duck season in Colorado, so Anaheim had better keep its wits about it. I know that the Ducks are a team that has gotten a ton of roses for improving over the past few seasons, but to me, they really haven’t in that time frame. They still sit in my mind as a middling club that harbours talent that should be prime pickings come trade deadline time.

That may come off harsh, but I just don’t believe in this roster as much as I did before the season started. Namely, Chris Kreider just hasn’t realized the level of impact that he achieved during his time in New York with the Rangers.

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Have the Ducks won four in a row? Yes.

Are they 4-5-1 in their last ten games? Also yes.

Projected Lineup:

Chris Kreider — Mason McTavish — Ryan Strome
Alex Killorn — Mikael Granlund — Beckett Sennecke
Jeffrey Viel — Ryan Poehling — Cutter Gauthier
Ross Johnston — Tim Washe — Ian Moore

Jackson Lacombe — Jacob Trouba
Pavel Mintyukov — Drew Helleson
Olen Zellweger — Radko Gudas

Lukas Dostal
Ville Husso

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