The Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars will renew their rivalry for the first time this season on Saturday. Colorado is off to a hot start, winning their first two games. The Stars won in a high-scoring affair on Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets. This game will mark the second return of former Avalanche Mikko Rantanen during the regular season. The Avalanche are looking to clean up their game, and the Stars will be the perfect opponent to do it against.

Colorado Avalanche (2–0–0)

Scott Wedgewood has been the force driving the Avalanche in their two victories. In his two starts, he has only allowed two goals, with a .966 save percentage. On Thursday, the Avalanche remained undefeated as they beat the Utah Mammoth 2–1. Ross Colton and Nathan MacKinnon netted goals to help with the victory, but it was a rough game for the entire squad. Defense was shaky as they gave up chance after chance to the Mammoth. Colorado tallied only four shots on net in the second period, the first one not coming until 5:34 left in the frame. The Avalanche went one of four on the power play to seal the win in the third period, but the win was not pretty. With Mackenzie Blackwood on the mend, it is questionable whether Wedgwood will still get the start on Saturday night.

Projected Lines

Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Martin Necas
Gabriel Landeskog — Brock Nelson — Valeri Nichushkin
Ross Colton — Jack Drury — Victor Olofsson
Joel Kiviranta — Parker Kelly — Gavin Brindley

Devon Toews — Cale Makar                    Sam Malinski — Josh Manson
Ilya Solovyov — Brent Burns

Scott Wedgewood
Trent Miner

Dallas Stars (1–0–0)

The Stars had a high-scoring affair against the Jets on Thursday in a game that saw nine total goals. Dallas had five different goal scorers and came out on top 5–4. Dallas loaded up the Jets with 37 shots on goal. They also finished the night one of five on the power play. Rantanen scored a goal and added two assists, and Matt Duchene had only one assist. The Avalanche will need to shut down the entire offensive zone against the Stars in order to have hope for a victory. If they do not shut it down, Wedgewood will be in for a long night in the crease.

Projected Lines

Jason Robertson — Roope Hintz — Mikko Rantanen
Wyatt Johnston — Matt Duchene — Tyler Seguin
Mavrik Bourque — Sam Steel — Colin Blackwell
Justin Hryckowian — Radek Faksa — Nathan Bastian

Esa Lindell — Miro Heiskanen
Thomas Harley — Nils Lundkvist
Lian Bichsel — Ilya Lyubushkin

Jake Oettinger
Casey DeSmith

Game Details

Time: 7 p.m. MT

Watch: Altitude Sports, Local Channel 20

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM