Game 4 Projected Lineup: Avalanche at Coyotes

After playing a back-to-back set this weekend, the Colorado Avalanche faces the Arizona Coyotes today in Game 4 of their first-round series at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.

Colorado leads the best-of-seven set 2-1 after winning the first two games but dropping the most recent one on Saturday. The Avs recorded 51 shots in that contest of the set, marking just the sixth time in franchise history that the club had over 50 shots in a playoff game and only the second time in a non-overtime finish. The Avalanche holds a 119-69 edge in shots against Arizona so far this series and is averaging 38.7 shots per game in this postseason, third most in the NHL.

Colorado did not hold a morning skate today, so the club's exact lineup won't be known until closer to game time. It is squad's the fourth outing in six days.

Goaltender Philipp Grubauer was in net for the first two contests of the series, and Pavel Francouz was between the pipes in the second half of the back-to-back in Saturday's Game 3. Grubauer is 3-0-1 with a 1.73 goals-against average and .933 save percentage in four outings this postseason and is likely to get the start this afternoon.

Vladislav Namestnikov was unfit to play in Game 3, and forward Joonas Donskoi returned to the lineup after missing Game 2. Namestnikov remains day-too-day after getting hurt in the second period of Friday's contest.

Below is the Avalanche's projected lineup based on the start of the previous contest. The forward combinations and defensive pairings are subject to change.

Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
72 Joonas Donskoi - 91 Nazem Kadri - 13 Valeri Nichushkin
95 Andre Burakovsky - 37 J.T. Compher - 17 Tyson Jost
83 Matt Nieto - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 11 Matt Calvert

Defensemen
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
16 Nikita Zadorov - 28 Ian Cole

Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
39 Pavel Francouz

Arizona didn't practice on Sunday or have a morning skate today, but the team is not expected to make any changes to its forward combinations or defensive pairings for the Game 4 matchup.

Coyotes forward Nick Schmaltz hasn't played this postseason since he sustained an injury in an exhibition game on July 30 versus the Vegas Golden Knights. Arizona head coach Rich Tocchet said on Sunday that Schmaltz took the day off with the rest of the team, and he will see how he feels on Monday.

Below is the Coyotes' projected lineup for today's game based on the start of Saturday's Game 3. 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

Goaltenders
35 Darcy Kuemper
32 Antti Raanta