Projected Lineup: Avalanche at Predators
Colorado continues three-game road trip
by Ron Knabenbauer @RonKnab / ColoradoAvalanche.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn.--The Colorado Avalanche takes on the Nashville Predators tonight at Bridgestone Arena to wrap up its 11th back-to-back of the season.
It is the Central Division foes' second meeting of the season and first since the Avs won 9-4 on Nov. 7 in Denver. Colorado, which is on a five-game winning streak and seven-game road winning streak, beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Friday night in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Avs did not hold a morning skate today so the club's exact lineup won't be known until closer to game time.
Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz has started the last six games and made a career-high 45 saves on Friday in Carolina. If he plays, he will be starting back-to-back contests in consecutive weekends, as he guarded the pipes in both of Colorado's wins on Feb. 21-22 at the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings.
If backup netminder Michael Hutchinson gets the nod, it will be his first contest in an Avalanche uniform since being acquired in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday.
Below is the Avalanche's projected lineup based on the alignment on Friday night at the Hurricanes. All forward combinations and defensive pairings are subject to change.
LINE COMBINATIONS
Based on the start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 95 Andre Burakovsky
17 Tyson Jost - 37 J.T. Compher - 72 Joonas Donskoi
13 Valeri Nichushkin - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 61 Martin Kaut
90 Vladislav Namestnikov - 81 Vladislav Kamenev - 83 Matt Nieto
Defensemen
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
28 Ian Cole - 16 Nikita Zadorov
Goaltenders
39 Pavel Francouz OR 35 Michael Hutchinson
Healthy Scratch: Mark Barberio
Injury Report: Matt Calvert (lower body), Philipp Grubauer (lower body), Nazem Kadri (lower body), Mikko Rantanen (upper body), Colin Wilson (lower body)