Game 4 Projected Lineup: Avalanche at Golden Knights

The Colorado Avalanche looks to maintain its series lead tonight as it faces off against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4 of their second-round playoff series at T-Mobile Arena. Game time is at 6:30 p.m. MT.
The Avs are coming off a 3-2 loss in the third outing of the best-of-seven set and have a 2-1 series lead. Head coach Jared Bednar did not disclose if there will be any lineup changes in his pregame availability, so the team's exact lineup for Game 4 will not be known until closer to puck drop.
Forwards Kiefer Sherwood and Carl Soderberg were both inserted into the lineup for Game 3 on Friday in place of rookies Alex Newhook and Sampo Ranta on the fourth line with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. Soderberg scored in the contest while Sherwood picked up an assist in his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut.

Friday's loss was Colorado's first of the playoffs after the team started 6-0 this postseason, the longest win streak to begin a playoff year in franchise history and tied for the longest streak of consecutive wins at any point of a playoff year (1987). Only two teams in the last 30 years have posted a longer stretch to start a playoff year, the 1994 New York Rangers and 2008 Pittsburgh Penguins (both 7-0).
Philipp Grubauer has been in the crease for all seven of the Avalanche's playoff games and won his first six starts this postseason, tied for the longest win streak in franchise playoff history (Mario Gosselin, 1987).
Forward Logan O'Connor is making progress from his lower-body injury and participated in the team's morning skate before Game 3. Bednar said on Friday that O'Connor wasn't ready to go yet but that "we're going to work on him here and hopefully get him ready to go as soon as possible."
Forward Jayson Megna was removed from the NHL's COVID-protocol list on Saturday.
Below is the Avalanche's projected lineup based on the forward combinations and defensive pairings from Game 3 on Friday. They are subject to change.
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
20 Brandon Saad - 17 Tyson Jost - 13 Valeri Nichushkin
95 Andre Burakovsky - 37 J.T. Compher - 72 Joonas Donskoi
34 Carl Soderberg - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 44 Kiefer Sherwood
Defensemen
7 Devon Toews - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 27 Ryan Graves
24 Patrik Nemeth - 22 Conor Timmins
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
40 Devan Dubnyk
Scratches: Bowen Byram, Jonas Johansson, Nazem Kadri (suspended), Jacob MacDonald, Kiefer Sherwood, Carl Soderberg
Injury Report: Matt Calvert (upper body), Pavel Francouz (lower body), Erik Johnson (upper body), Logan O'Connor (lower body)
The Vegas Golden Knights could have a few changes to its lineup for the contest. Forward Ryan Reaves completed his two-game suspension for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct from Game 1 on Friday. He had been replaced in the lineup by Keegan Kolesar and is expected to replace him on the game roster.
Defenseman Brayden McNabb is a possibility to make his series debut as he was removed from the NHL's COVID-protocol list today. He had been in protocol since May 26. Head coach Peter DeBoer said after Vegas' morning skate that Reaves, McNabb, Mattias Janmark and Tomas Nosek are "on the horizon" of returning.
Below is the Golden Knights' projected lineup based on the forward combinations and defensive pairings from Game 3, with Reaves replacing Kolesar. It is subject to change.
Forwards
67 Max Pacioretty - 20 Chandler Stephenson - 61 Mark Stone
81 Jonathan Marchessault - 71 William Karlsson - 19 Reilly Smith
15 Dylan Sikura - 10 Nicolas Roy - 89 Alex Tuch
28 William Carrier - 38 Patrick Brown - 55 Keegan Kolesar
Defensemen
23 Alec Martinez - 7 Alex Pietrangelo
22 Nick Holden - 27 Shea Theodore
14 Nicolas Hague - 2 Zach Whitecloud
Goaltenders
29 Marc-Andre Fleury
36 Logan Thompson