The Colorado Avalanche will get a possible playoff preview against the Seattle Kraken in a road matchup on Thursday night. It will be game two of the season between the two Western Conference sides.
Colorado took the first matchup in the Pacific Northwest back on December 16 in a 5–3 comeback effort. The possible 2023 first-round rematch could be spicy in this second game at the Climate Pledge Arena.
Colorado Avalanche (43–11–9, 95 pts)
The Avs took a controversial loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night, 4–3. A high-paced matchup saw Nathan MacKinnon controversially given a major penalty and game misconduct after Darnell Nurse hit him into Connor Ingram.
MacKinnon was called for a goalie interference MAJOR and even made Ingram bleed 😳 pic.twitter.com/N6wNfRDOOA
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) March 11, 2026
Luckily, MacKinnon did not face any other disciplinary action and will be back in the side in Seattle. Surely, he will be angry and looking to unleash it on the Kraken.
However, he will still be without some key players. Ross Colton left Tuesday’s game early with an upper-body injury. Of course, they’re still without Gabriel Landeskog and Artturi Lehkonen. It will be another game where Colorado will have to dig deep to win this possible playoff preview.
Projected Lines
Martin Necas – Nathan MacKinnon – Nazem Kadri
Valeri Nichushkin – Brock Nelson – Ross Colton
Parker Kelly – Nicolas Roy – Joel Kiviranta
Zakhar Bardakov – Jack Drury – Gavin Brindley
Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Josh Manson – Brent Burns
Brett Kulak – Sam Malinski
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
Seattle Kraken (29–25–9, 67 pts)
The Kraken are on a bit of a skid. They’ve dropped three straight, most recently against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night in a 4–2 final.
Despite their losing streak, Seattle still holds the final playoff spot in the West with 67 points. Although it has been a rocky road, Thursday’s game against Colorado will wrap up a six-game homestand.
New man Bobby McMann still cannot play because of visa issues. But his team will look to earn a huge win against the best team in the league. A big win would help their odds against the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks to keep their current playoff spot.
Projected Lines
Jared McCann – Matty Beniers – Jordan Eberle
Eeli Tolvanen – Chandler Stephenson – Frederick Gaudreau
Berkly Catton – Shane Wright – Kaapo Kakko
Jacob Melanson – Ben Meyers – Ryan Winterton
Vince Dunn – Adam Larsson
Ryan Lindgren – Brandon Montour
Ryker Evans – Jamie Oleksiak
Philipp Grubauer
Joey Daccord
Game Details
Time: 8:00 p.m. MT
Watch: Altitude 2, Altitude+, KTVD, KING 5 (SEA), KHN/Prime (SEA), ESPN+ (Out of Market Only)
Listen: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM/AM 950
