Projected Lineup: Avalanche vs. Blackhawks

The Colorado Avalanche's new-look lines from Friday's practice are expected to be the same ones that the team will employ tonight at Pepsi Center against the Chicago Blackhawks.
There will be changes on each of the Avs' four forward combinations, with Matt Nieto moving up to the top group with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.

Gabriel Landeskog will play on a line with Alexander Kerfoot and J.T. Compher, while Sheldon Dries, Carl Soderberg and Matt Calvert will make up another trio. Tyson Jost will center a combo that has Gabriel Bourque and Sven Andrighetto on the wings.
The Avalanche's defensive alignment will be the same as it was for Thursday's game at the Vegas Golden Knights. Defenseman Ryan Graves will skate in his second-ever NHL contest, as Nikita Zadorov will miss his fourth straight outing with a lower-body injury.
Goaltender Semyon Varlamov will make his first start in net for Colorado since Dec. 17 versus the New York Islanders. He has a 13-6-2 record, 2.20 goals-against average, .936 save percentage and three shutouts in 22 career appearances against Chicago.
Below is the Avalanche's projected lineup for this evening's contest against the Blackhawks. All line combinations and defensive pairings are subject to change.

Forwards

83 Matt Nieto - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 13 Alexander Kerfoot - 37 J.T. Compher
15 Sheldon Dries - 34 Carl Soderberg - 11 Matt Calvert
57 Gabriel Bourque - 17 Tyson Jost - 10 Sven Andrighetto

Defensemen

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

Goaltenders

1 Semyon Varlamov (starter)
31 Philipp Grubauer (backup)
Injury Report: 16 Nikita Zadorov (lower body), 22 Colin Wilson (upper body), 44 Mark Barberio (upper body), 91 Vladislav Kamenev (shoulder)