The Colorado Avalanche wraps up its playoff back-to-back set against the Arizona Coyotes this afternoon with Game 3 of the first-round series at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.
Colorado won 3-2 on Friday to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. This is the first time that the Avs have played on consecutive days in the postseason since Games 3-4 versus the Minnesota Wild in the Western Conference Quarterfinals on April 14-15, 2008.
The Avs finished the regular season with a 6-5-1 record in the second contest of back-to-backs, sweeping half (six) of their 12 consecutive-day sets to match a franchise record (also in 1985-86 and 2000-01). This is the organization's 20th all-time back-to-back in the postseason, with the team sporting a 10-9 overall mark in the second game and a 3-1 record in the back-half contest since moving to Denver for the 1995-96 campaign.
Colorado will also be playing its sixth afternoon contest during the NHL's postseason, going 4-0-1 in the previous five. The Avs went 4-0-0 in day games during the regular season.
With the early start at 1 p.m. MT, the Avalanche did not hold a morning skate today, so the club's exact lineup won't be known until closer to game time. Head coach Jared Bednar didn't give any details on what his roster might look like for Game 3 following Friday's contest.
Goaltender Philipp Grubauer has started the first two games of the series, posting a 2-0 record, 1.00 goals-against average, .957 save percentage and a shutout so far against the Coyotes. Pavel Francouz could possibly guard the pipes today for the Avs due to the back-to-back situation and Bednar mentioning earlier this postseason that he expects both netminders to see action in Edmonton. Francouz posted a 27-save shutout in his lone start during round-robin play on Aug. 5 against the Dallas Stars.
The playing status of forwards Joonas Donskoi and Vladislav Namestnikov also won't be known until closer to puck drop. Donskoi missed his first game of postseason on Friday (unfit to play), and Namestnikov left in the second period of Game 2 with an injury and did not return.
"He got dinged up a bit in the game, but I would consider him day-to-day," Bednar said postgame of Namestnikov.
Tyson Jost replaced Donskoi in the lineup, playing his first outing of the series and scored to give Colorado a 2-1 lead early in the second period. Jost now has four goals in the last five postseason games he's played dating back to the 2019 Second Round versus the San Jose Sharks.
With Namestnikov's availability still unclear, below is the Avalanche's projected lineup for Game 3 based on the start of the previous contest. The forward combinations and defensive pairings are subject to change.
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer OR 39 Pavel Francouz
Arizona Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper is expected to start after he made 25 saves on Friday afternoon. Kuemper has played in all six of Arizona's playoff games this year, owning a 2.82 goals-against average and .926 save percentage.
Antti Raanta backed up Kuemper in Game 2 for the first time since leaving midway through the second contest of Arizona's best-of-five qualifying series against the Nashville Predators on Aug. 4.
Forward Nick Schmaltz has yet to play this postseason after getting hurt in the team's exhibition versus the Vegas Golden Knights on July 30. Head coach Rick Tocchet said earlier this week that Schmaltz has continued to make progress in his recovery, but the forward didn't dress for a sixth-straight contest on Friday.
Below is the Coyotes' projected lineup for today's game based on the start of Friday's Game 2. All forward combinations and defensive pairings are subject to change.
Forwards
91 Taylor Hall - 21 Derek Stepan - 9 Clayton Keller
83 Conor Garland - 18 Christian Dvorak - 81 Phil Kessel
67 Lawson Crouse - 34 Carl Soderberg - 36 Christian Fischer
40 Michael Grabner - 15 Brad Richardson - 13 Vinnie Hinostroza
Defensemen
23 Oliver Ekman-Larsson - 55 Jason Demers
33 Alex Goligoski - 4 Niklas Hjalmarsson
6 Jakob Chychrun - 82 Jordan Oesterle
