Projected Lineup: Avalanche at Stars

The Colorado Avalanche travels to the Lone Star State for the first time this season on Thursday for a showdown against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.
The Avs are coming off a 4-3 overtime win against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday at Pepsi Center in their last outing. Dallas defeated the New York Rangers 1-0 in its previous game on Tuesday to open a three-game homestand.
Defenseman Ryan Graves will be inserted into the Avalanche's lineup for the Central Division matchup after Nikita Zadorov didn't make the trip due to an upper-body injury, head coach Jared Bednar said after an optional practice on Wednesday in Denver.

"I feel confident in what Graves can do," Bednar said. "I like what he's done for us, especially as a young player coming in. We've talked about all the things that he helps us provide on both sides of the puck, so another good opportunity for him to get in the lineup and play."
Netminder Semyon Varlamov is expected to get the start for the Avs. The Samara, Russia, native has won six of his last nine starts (6-2-1) for Colorado and has a 19-16-9 record this season with a 2.83 goals-against average and .910 save percentage.
Forward Andrew Agozzino was recalled from the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League on Wednesday, and he will play left wing this evening on a line with Alexander Kerfoot at center and Sven Andrighetto on the right wing.
Graves will be paired with Patrik Nemeth on the backend, moving Ian Cole to pair with Tyson Barrie.
Tonight's matchup is the third of four scheduled meetings between the Avs and the Stars this season, with the final meeting set for March 21 in Dallas.
Below is Colorado's projected lineup for Thursday's matchup. All line combinations and defensive pairings are subject to change.

Forwards

92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen\
22 Colin Wilson - 34 Carl Soderberg - 37 J.T. Compher
18 Derick Brassard - 17 Tyson Jost - 11 Matt Calvert
26 Andrew Agozzino - 13 Alexander Kerfoot - 10 Sven Andrighetto

Defensemen

49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
28 Ian Cole - 4 Tyson Barrie
12 Patrik Nemeth - 27 Ryan Graves

Goaltenders

1 Semyon Varlamov
31 Philipp Grubauer
Healthy Scratches:15 Sheldon Dries, 57 Gabriel Bourque
Injury Report:16 Nikita Zadorov (upper body), 44 Mark Barberio (lower body), 83 Matt Nieto (lower body), 91 Vladislav Kamenev (shoulder)