At the Rink: Devils at Avalanche

DENVER -- The Colorado Avalanche will have a new look on defense Thursday when they play the New Jersey Devils at Pepsi Center (9 p.m. ET; MSG+2, ALT).

Nikita Zadorov and Chris Bigras were recalled Wednesday from the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League and will be paired with Francois Beauchemin and Zach Redmond, respectively.

"I said to them it's their chance to push some guys out of the lineup and I want some consistency from them," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "We're a team that wants to make the (Stanley Cup) Playoffs and they have an opportunity to show what they can do."

Zadorov, 20, was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres on June 26 as part of a five-player trade involving forward Ryan O'Reilly. The 16th pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, he began the season with the Avalanche (21-20-3) and had two assists in 11 games before he was assigned to San Antonio on Nov. 7. He had eight goals and 10 assists in 28 games with the Rampage.

Bigras, 20, will make his NHL debut. He was Colorado's second-round pick (No. 32) in 2013. He had six goals and 13 assists in 37 games with the Rampage.

"I feel unreal, I'm ready to go," said Zadorov, who is 6-feet-3 and 220 pounds. "It was a great experience (in San Antonio), I got lots of ice time and got more comfortable. I'm just happy to be back. If you're in this League you have to be focused every game."

Bigras, 6-1, 190, said it was a moment of shock when he learned of his promotion.

"I didn't know what to think or what to do at first," he said. "I'm just ecstatic to live out my childhood dream to get an opportunity to play. I called my parents right away and told them the good news. Obviously my goal was to make it up eventually at some point in the season. I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity here."

The Avalanche also will have a change in goal. Calvin Pickard will make his first home start of the season since his Dec. 25 recall from San Antonio. Semyon Varlamov started the previous seven games.

"I loved playing here last year," Pickard said. "I had a good stretch playing in front of our fans and I'm looking forward to getting back at it."

The Devils (21-18-5), who have lost four of their past five games, are shorthanded up front because of injuries and a four-game suspension to forward Bobby Farnham for his hit against St. Louis Blues forward Dmitrij Jaskin on Tuesday. The Devils are down to 11 healthy forwards and will dress seven defensemen Thursday.

"We’ll go through the combinations we feel can help us tonight and go from there," Devils coach John Hynes said. "We're going to have to pick up some slack like we have done when other guys have been out."

Here are the projected lineups:

DEVILS

Joseph Blandisi - Adam Henrique - Kyle Palmieri

Tuomo Ruutu - Travis Zajac - Lee Stempniak

Sergey Kalinin - Jim O'Brien - Tyler Kennedy

Stephen Gionta - Stefan Matteau

Andy Greene - Adam Larsson

David Schlemko - Damon Severson

Marc-Andre Gragnani - Jon Merrill

Eric Gelinas

Cory Schneider

Keith Kinkaid

Injured: Michael Cammalleri (upper body), Patrik Elias (knee), Jacob Josefson (lower body), John Moore (lower body), Jiri Tlusty (upper body), Jordin Tootoo (head)

Suspended: Bobby Farnham

Scratched: None

AVALANCHE

Alex Tanguay - Nathan MacKinnon - Matt Duchene

Gabriel Landeskog - Carl Soderberg - Blake Comeau

Andreas Martinsen - Chris Wagner - Jarome Iginla

Cody McLeod - John Mitchell - Jack Skille

Francois Beauchemin - Nikita Zadorov

Nick Holden - Tyson Barrie

Zach Redmond - Chris Bigras

Calvin Pickard

Semyon Varlamov

Injured: Reto Berra (ankle), Erik Johnson (lower body), Ben Street (chest), Brad Stuart (back), Jesse Winchester (head)

Scratched: Mikhail Grigorenko, Nate Guenin

Status report: Ruutu will return to the lineup after missing three games because of a lower-body injury. Cammalleri didn't accompany the Devils on the road trip and won't join them Saturday for the game against the Arizona Coyotes. "As much as you want to get guys back in, it's what's right for the team and the player," Hynes said. "It's a long trip out here." … Wagner will replace Grigorenko on a line with Martinsen and Iginla. Wagner was a healthy scratch the past 14 games.

Who's hot: Henrique has two goals and two assists in the past six games. Larsson has three assists in three games. … Duchene has four goals and two assists in five games. MacKinnon has two goals and two assists in four games. Landeskog has two goals and two assists in five games.