Projected Lineup: Avalanche at Red Wings
Michael Hutchinson to play first game with Colorado
by Ron Knabenbauer @RonKnab / ColoradoAvalanche.com
DETROIT--The Colorado Avalanche will make a switch in goal tonight as the club faces off against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena.
Goaltender Michael Hutchinson is set to make his Avalanche debut after being acquired at last Monday's trade deadline from the Toronto Maple Leafs. His last NHL game was Feb. 5 at the New York Rangers.
Andre Burakovsky will miss his second straight game and fourth in the team's last five contests with an upper-body injury. Head coach Jared Bednar said after morning skate that the forward is day-to-day.
Bednar did not say who he will scratched this evening, but it will likely be either Vladislav Kamenev or Mark Barberio. In Colorado's last game on Saturday at the Nashville Predators, the defenseman Barberio played on the club's fourth line while Kamenev was scratched.
Tonight is the final stop of the team's three-game road trip. The Avs are on a six-game winning streak and have won eight straight on the road, a franchise record.
Below is the Avalanche's projected lineup for tonight's game, based on the alignment from the outing against the Predators. All forward combinations and defensive pairings are subject to change.
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 13 Valeri Nichushkin
83 Matt Nieto - 37 J.T. Compher - 72 Joonas Donskoi
90 Vladislav Namestnikov - 17 Tyson Jost - 61 Martin Kaut
44 Mark Barberio OR 81 Vladislav Kamenev - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Logan O'Connor
Defensemen
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
28 Ian Cole - 16 Nikita Zadorov
Goaltenders
35 Michael Hutchinson
39 Pavel Francouz
Injury Report: Andre Burakovsky (upper body), Matt Calvert (lower body), Philipp Grubauer (lower body), Nazem Kadri (lower body), Mikko Rantanen (upper body), Colin Wilson (lower body)