The Colorado Avalanche (5-4-1) return home for one game to host the Tampa Bay Lightning (7-2-0). Puck drop is scheduled for 7:08 p.m. MT.<\/p>\n
Key Stories to Watch<\/p>\n
The Avalanche are in need of a major bounce back after two consecutive bad games on the road. Colorado was outshot for most of the last two games and was the slower team in both instances. Jared Bednar vocalized on Thursday that he\u2019d like his team to play with more urgency and consistency. It starts against the Tampa Bay Lightning.<\/p>\n
Logan O\u2019Connor<\/a> will make his season debut. O\u2019Connor was injured in a preseason game and missed the first handful of games while recovering. When he was finally ready to return, his father, Myles, passed away and O\u2019Connor took a personal leave to be with his family. He has been skating with the team for several days and will slot in on the fourth line with Parker Kelly<\/a> and recent call-up Taylor Makar<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mackenzie Blackwood<\/a> makes his eighth start in 11 games to open the season. The Avs\u2019 starting netminder is 4-3-0 with an .889 save percentage. In his last three games, Blackwood is 2-0-1 with a .915 save percentage. This will be his first time facing the Lightning since his days with the San Jose Sharks.<\/p>\n The Lightning are off to a hot start, going 7-2-0 through nine games. They are 5-0 at home and 2-2 on the road, but are riding a three-game winning streak heading into this matchup. Nikita Kucherov<\/a> leads the team with 13 points in nine games, while Brandon Hagel has seven goals and 12 points. Andrei Vasilevskiy gets the nod in goal. He has won six of eight games against Colorado since the 2022 Stanley Cup Final. <\/p>\n Season Series<\/p>\n Oct. 23 vs Tampa Bay Lightning<\/p>\n Feb. 13 at Tampa Bay Lightning<\/p>\n Avalanche Injuries<\/p>\n Projected Avalanche Lines (Subject to Change)<\/p>\n Artturi Lehkonen \u2014 Nathan MacKinnon \u2014 Martin Necas
Gabriel Landeskog \u2014 Brock Nelson \u2014 Nazem Kadri
Jaden Schwartz \u2014 Fedor Svechkov \u2014 T.J. Hughes
Taylor Makar \u2014 Parker Kelly \u2014 Logan O\u2019Connor<\/p>\n