Projected Lineup: Avalanche at Stars
Colorado wraps up road trip in Dallas
by Ron Knabenbauer @RonKnab / ColoradoAvalanche.com
The Colorado Avalanche aims for a bit of redemption tonight as it takes on the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.
It is the second meeting of the season between the Central Division foes and the second in five days after Dallas defeated Colorado 2-1 on Friday at Pepsi Center.
Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said after today's morning skate that the team will start the game with the same line combinations it deployed at the end of Saturday's contest at the Arizona Coyotes.
Nathan MacKinnon will center a group with Matt Nieto and Joonas Donskoi on the wings, while Nazem Kadri will lead a line with Tyson Jost and J.T. Compher. Andre Burakovsky will play on a trio with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Matt Calvert.
Colorado's fourth line of Vladislav Kamenev, Valeri Nichushkin and Jayson Megna will remain the same as it's been for the past two games. The club's defensive pairings are also expected to not have any changes.
Goaltender Philipp Grubauer will start in net for the Avs. He made 27 saves in the loss to the Stars on Friday but owns a 2-2-0 record, 1.84 goals-against average and .945 save percentage in seven career contests against Dallas.
Below is the Avalanche's projected lineup for this evening's game in Texas. All forward combinations and defensive pairings are subject to change.
Forwards
83 Matt Nieto - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 72 Joonas Donskoi
17 Tyson Jost - 91 Nazem Kadri - 37 J.T. Compher
95 Andre Burakovsky - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 11 Matt Calvert
13 Valeri Nichushkin - 81 Vladislav Kamenev - 12 Jayson Megna
Defensemen
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
28 Ian Cole - 8 Cale Makar
16 Nikita Zadorov - 27 Ryan Graves
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer (starter)
39 Pavel Francouz (backup)
Scratched: Mark Barberio
Injuries: Gabriel Landeskog (lower body), Mikko Rantanen (lower body), Colin Wilson (lower body)