CHICAGO — The Colorado Avalanche and the struggling Chicago Blackhawks will meet for the fourth and final time this season. Chicago leads the series 2–1 with the last win coming on January 8, 2025. Goaltender Trent Miner made his first career NHL start but would not get much support from the rest of the team, losing 3–1. The Avs will be on the first half of a back-to-back, playing in Columbus tomorrow night. So look for the Avs to get ahead and attempt to roll all four lines to conserve their energy for tomorrow night.

Colorado Avalanche (45–26–4)

The Avalanche will come off of two straight losses and possibly one of the worst comebacks by an opponent all season. Colorado gained a two-goal lead over the Calgary Flames, only for it to be erased in 23 seconds. Goals by Cale Makar and Logan O’Connor set the Avalanche for success going into the third period. Then Ryan Lindgren headed to the box for cross-checking and the tide tuned in favor of the Flames. Calgary scored twice in 23 seconds to tie the game and eventually send it to overtime. Yegor Sharangovich was the only player to score during the shootout, sealing the Flames 3–2 win.

Projected Lines

Artturi Lehkonen (62) – Nathan MacKinnon (29) – Jonathan Drouin (27)
Valeri Nichushkin (13) – Brock Nelson (11) – Martin Necas (88)
Joel Kiviranta (94) – Charlie Coyle (10) – Ross Colton (20)
Parker Kelly (17) – Jack Drury (18) – Logan O’Connor (25)

Devon Toews (7) – Cale Makar (8)
Ryan Lindgren (55) – Sam Malinski (70)
Keaton Middleton (67) – Erik Johnson (6)

Scott Wedgewood (41)
Mackenzie Blackwood (39)

Chicago Blackhawks (21–44–9)

The Blackhawks continue to struggle to get out of the basement of the standings, as they cannot gain real momentum. Connor Bedard has not lived up to the hype in his sophomore season in the NHL. He has 58 points, but fans and media expected far more from him. Chicago’s last game on Sunday was against the Utah Hockey Club, and it seemed they could do nothing right to get the puck in the net. Chicago managed only two goals as Utah ran through them almost every way, winning 5–2. The entire team struggled to put any defensive pressure on Utah and it cost them the game.

Projected Lines

Ryan Donato (8) –Connor Bedard (98) – Ilya Mikheyev (95)
Teuvo Teravainen (86) – Frank Nazar (91) – Tyler Bertuzzi (59)
Landon Slaggert (84) – Oliver Moore (11) – Lukas Reichel (73)
Nick Foligno (17) – Joe Veleno (90) – Pat Maroon (77)

Alex Vlasic (72) – Sam Rinzel (6)
Wyatt Kaiser (44) – Artyom Levshunov (55)
Ethan Del Mastro (38) – Connor Murphy (5)

Spencer Knight (30)
Arvid Soderblom (40)

Game Details

Time: 7:30 p.m. MT

Watch: Altitude 2 (In Market Only), TNT, TruTV, MAX (Out of Market Only)

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM