The Colorado Avalanche aim to end a three-game slide against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. It will be the last time that the two will meet this season. The last time they played each other in February, the Avs won 3–1. Colorado’s last game was the better of the three, so they will look for momentum from there. Chicago will be returning home after an easy road win against the Minnesota Wild. A win that only helped the Avalanche in the long run. Now, fans will only have to wait to see which team will show up for the Avalanche, the one from Wednesday or the one from Monday.

Colorado Avalanche (44–13–10, 98 pts)

The Avalanche altered their defensive strategy facing the Dallas Stars, resulting in some success. Mostly. With two different defensive pairings, the Avalanche took the Stars to a shootout and lost 2–1. Cale Makar netted the Avs’ sole goal, limiting the Stars to just two first-period shots. Head coach Jared Bednar said before the game that “Scott Wedgewood is the guy to go with right now, in my opinion,” so plan on him starting again against Chicago. With at least one point gained by the Avs in a victory today, Colorado could punch their ticket to the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Projected Lines

Valeri Nichushkin – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas
Nazem Kadri – Brock Nelson – Nicolas Roy
Parker Kelly – Jack Drury – Joel Kiviranta
Ivan Ivan – Zakhar Bardakov – Gavin Brindley

Brett Kulak – Cale Makar
Devon Toews – Sam Malinski
Josh Manson – Brent Burns

Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood

Chicago Blackhawks (26–30–12, 64 pts)

The Blackhawks finished a home and home series against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night. They split the series, with game one going into overtime and resulting in a loss, and game two resulting in a 2–1 victory. Connor Bedard had an impressive steal at the blue line for a breakaway goal, and 28th of the year. Former Avalanche forward Nico Sturm was the only player for the Wild to score after returning to the game from a vicious blocked shot. It has been a rough year for the Hawks who are well out of the playoff hunt. But they have been making significant improvements as a team with such a young core.

Projected Lines

Ryan Greene – Connor Bedard – Andre Burakovsky
Tyler Bertuzzi – Frank Nazar – Teuvo Teravainen
Andrew Mangiapane – Ryan Donato – Ilya Mikheyev
Nick Lardis – Sam Lafferty – Landon Slaggert

Alex Vlasic – Artyom Levshunov
Wyatt Kaiser– Sam Rinzel
Ethan Del Mastro – Louis Crevier

Arvid Soderblom
Spencer Knight

Game Details

Time: 6:30 p.m. MT

Watch: Altitude, Altitude+, KTVD, CHSN (CHI), ESPN+ (Out of market only)

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM/AM 950