DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche once again battle one of the worst teams in the league tonight. They will take on the struggling Chicago Blackhawks at Ball Arena. The Avalanche have won their last five five contest, outscoring their opponents 28–11 in the process.

The Blackhawks have not fared so well with a 3–0–2 record in their last five games. Superstar Connor Bedard comes into the game with 17 goals and 35 assists but a shocking minus 28.

Colorado is one of the hottest teams at the moment and they could see the return of fan favorite Erik Johnson in an Avalanche sweater.

Colorado Avalanche (38-24-2) Previous Game

The Avalanche dominated one of the East’s top teams on Saturday with a victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. It turned into a full team effort, with points coming through the whole lineup. Valeri Nichushkin scored his first regular season hat trick. Nathan MacKinnon scored two goals of his own and now sits at 999 career points.

There were points from Brock Nelson, Ryan Lindgren, and Charlie Coyle on Saturday. All of which were new acquisitions within the last week of the Avalanche.

Joel Kiviranta even stepped up with a goal on Saturday to add to mix along with Jonathon Drouin. After tonight, the Avalanche will head to Minnesota tomorrow night for a battle to keep third place in the division.

Colorado Avalanche lines

Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Martin Necas
Jonathan Drouin — Brock Nelson — Valeri Nichushkin
Joel Kiviranta — Charlie Coyle — Ross Colton
Parker Kelly — Jack Drury — Logan O’Connor

Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Ryan Lindgren — Josh Manson
Samuel Girard — Erik Johnson

Scott Wedgewood

MacKinzie Blackwood

Scratches: Parker Kelly, Sam Malinski, Miles Wood, Keaton Middleton

Chicago Blackhawks (20-35-9) Previous Game

The Chicago Blackhawks have been one of the worst teams in the NHL as of late. Their last game against the Nashville Predators started well, but then Steven Stamkos unleashed his wrath. Alex Vlasic opened the scoring for the Hawks but Stamkos answered back within the same period.

Ilya Mikheyev would later score in the third period, but Stamkos again answered back to complete the hat trick. The Hawks would lose the game 3–2 as Stamkos did all the work for Nashville.

The Hawks are slightly better than the San Jose Sharks right now, but after their trade of defenseman Seth Jones to Florida, that could change things.

Chicago Blackhawks Lines

Colton Dach — Connor Bedard — Frank Nazar
Teuvo Teravainen — Ryan Donato — Ilya Mikheyev
Landon Slaggert — Nick Foligno — Tyler Bertuzzi
Pat Maroon — Joe Veleno — Lukas Reichel

Alex Vlasic — Louis Crevier
Ethan Del Mastro — Connor Murphy
Wyatt Kaiser — Alec Martinez

Spencer Knight

Arvid Soderblom

Game Details

Time: 7 p.m. MT

Watch: Altitude 2 Sports

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM