Projected Lineup: Avalanche at Coyotes

Before the Colorado Avalanche begins its NHL Holiday Break, the team will take on the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena.
Tonight's outing in Glendale, Arizona, is the second half of a back-to-back set for the Avs, who fell 2-1 to the Chicago Blackhawks last night in Denver. It is the sixth time this year Colorado has played games in consecutive days.

Colin Wilson didn't finish the game against the Blackhawks after suffering an upper-body injury early in the third period and is listed as week-to-week. The Avalanche placed Wilson on injured reserve on Saturday morning and recalled forwards Sheldon Dries and A.J. Greer and goaltender Pavel Francouz from the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League.
Netminder Semyon Varlamov was expected to make his 24th start of the season this evening, but he is sick and won't dress. Instead, Philipp Grubauer will guard the pipes for the second consecutive night after stopping 26 shots on Friday against the Blackhawks.
This is Francouz's first-ever NHL call-up, and the 2018 Czech Republic Olympian will serve as Colorado's backup against the Coyotes.
The Avs did not hold a morning skate so the club's exact lineup and healthy scratch won't be known until closer to game time.
Dries has four points (two goals, two assists) in 16 contests with the Avalanche this campaign in addition to one goal and one assist in 10 AHL games. Greer has played in four outings with the Avs this year and ranks second on the Eagles with 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in 21 outings.
Tonight's contest marks the second of three this year between the Avs and Coyotes. The Avalanche won the first meeting by a 5-1 score on Nov. 23 in Arizona.
Below is the Avalanche's projected forward combinations and defensive pairings based on the lines at the end of Colorado's outing against Chicago. They are all subject to change.

Forwards

92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
17 Tyson Jost - 13 Alexander Kerfoot - 37 J.T. Compher
83 Matt Nieto - 34 Carl Soderberg - 11 Matt Calvert
57 Gabriel Bourque - 10 Sven Andrighetto - 15 Sheldon Dries AND/OR 24 A.J. Greer

Defensemen

49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
28 Ian Cole - 4 Tyson Barrie
54 Anton Lindholm - 12 Patrik Nemeth

Goaltenders

31 Philipp Grubauer
39 Pavel Francouz
Injury Report: 1 Semyon Varlamov (ill), 16 Nikita Zadorov (lower body), 22 Colin Wilson (upper body), 44 Mark Barberio (upper body), 91 Vladislav Kamenev (shoulder)