For the final time this regular season and for one last time before the Olympic Break, the Colorado Avalanche will go swimming with the San Jose Sharks. This game wraps up the three-game series between the two sides.
San Jose took the first game at the Shark Tank in a 3–2 OT win to start November. The day before Thanksgiving, Colorado returned the favor with a dominant 6–0 win on home ice in the third straight game with a shutout at the time.
Colorado Avalanche (36–9–9, 81 pts)
The Avs wrapped up its home-and-home with the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. After shutting them out in the Motor City, Colorado was promptly shutout on home ice 2–0 two days later.
Similar to several games in the last few weeks, the Avalanche were just a step off their game and swimming around. Nathan MacKinnon’s dominance was nowhere to be found, but there were positive performances from Parker Kelly and Mackenzie Blackwood.
Devon Toews also returned to action after an injury and will look to be better in the lead-up to playing for Team Canada. Plus, Colorado could get the return of Martin Necas from injury in his own lead-up to playing for Czechia. Whoever they resort to in the lineup, a much-needed win is in order to head into the break high.
Projected Lines
Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Valeri Nichushkin
Ross Colton – Brock Nelson – Gavin Brindley
Victor Olofsson – Jack Drury – Joel Kiviranta
Parker Kelly – Zakhar Bardakov – Taylor Makar
Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Josh Manson – Brent Burns
Sam Malinski – Samuel Girard
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
San Jose Sharks (27–23–4, 58 pts)
San Jose fell flat in a disappointing fashion last time out. It came in a 6–3 drubbing on the road against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night.
The Sharks have been a fun team to watch and root for this season from a neutral’s perspective. Macklin Celebrini has led the way for a fun group, including Will Smith, Tyler Toffoli, and Yaroslav Askarov. However, they have lost cagey veteran Ryan Reaves to an injury on Monday, placing him on IR.
But, new man Kiefer Sherwood could make his debut from injury after his trade from the Vancouver Canucks. After dropping three straight, San Jose will look to get swimming back in the right direction towards a playoff spot with a win to wrap up a five-game road trip.
Projected Lines
Will Smith – Macklin Celebrini – Kiefer Sherwood
William Eklund – Michael Misa – Tyler Toffoli
Phillip Kurashev – Alexander Wennberg – Collin Graf
Barclay Goodrow – Adam Gaudette – Pavol Regenda
Mario Ferraro – Timothy Liljgren
Dmitry Orlov – John Klingberg
Shakir Mukhamadullin – Vincent Desharnais
Yaroslav Askarov
Alex Nedeljkovic
Game Details
Time: 7:00 p.m. MT
Watch: Altitude, Altitude+, NBCSCA (SJS), ESPN+ (Out of Market Only)
Listen: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM/AM 950
