The Avalanche is expected to use the same lineup as it did for Sunday's Game 1 when the club won 7-1 versus the Golden Knights. Colorado's current five-game playoff win streak is the franchise's longest to start a postseason and tied for the longest at any point in Avs history (since 1995-96). The Quebec Nordiques hold the record at six wins in a row in 1987.
Rookies Alex Newhook and Sampo Ranta, who made his NHL debut on Sunday, are expected to make up the fourth line with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. Philipp Grubauer is looking to become just the second goalie in Colorado/Quebec history to record victories in six straight postseason contests; he's currently tied with Patrick Roy for the Avs record with five.
Below is the Avalanche's projected lineup based on the forward combinations and defensive pairings from Tuesday's practice and Sunday's Game 1. They are subject to change.
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
20 Brandon Saad - 17 Tyson Jost - 13 Valeri Nichushkin
95 Andre Burakovsky - 37 J.T. Compher - 72 Joonas Donskoi
75 Sampo Ranta - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 18 Alex Newhook
Defensemen
7 Devon Toews - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 27 Ryan Graves
24 Patrik Nemeth - 22 Conor Timmins
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
40 Devan Dubnyk
Scratches: Bowen Byram, Jonas Johansson, Nazem Kadri (suspended), Jacob MacDonald, Kiefer Sherwood, Carl Soderberg
Injury Report: Matt Calvert (upper body), Pavel Francouz (lower body), Erik Johnson (upper body), Logan O'Connor (lower body)
Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury could make his debut in the series this evening for the Vegas Golden Knights after Robin Lehner started Game 1.
Head coach Peter DeBoer didn't disclose his starting netminder for the second contest of the best-of-seven series, but he highly suggested that Fleury would start during his media availability on Tuesday. Fleury took part in today's optional morning skate, while Lehner and forward Mattias Janmark didn't participate.
DeBoer said Lehner and Janmark are both game-time decisions. Janmark didn't finish Game 1 following a collision with Colorado defenseman Ryan Graves in the second period.
Forward Ryan Reaves will be out of the lineup for Vegas as he will be serving the first of a two-game suspension for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct on Graves from Sunday. The player that will take Reaves' spot in the lineup is not yet known, but Keegan Kolesar could be the one that gets the nod.
Below is the Golden Knights' projected lineup based on the forward combinations and defensive pairings from Game 1, with Janmark still included.
Forwards
67 Max Pacioretty - 20 Chandler Stephenson - 61 Mark Stone
81 Jonathan Marchessault - 71 William Karlsson - 19 Reilly Smith
26 Mattias Janmark - 10 Nicolas Roy - 89 Alex Tuch
28 William Carrier - 38 Patrick Brown - 55 Keegan Koelsar
Defensemen
23 Alec Martinez - 7 Alex Pietrangelo
22 Nick Holden - 27 Shea Theodore
14 Nicolas Hague - 2 Zach Whitecloud
Goaltenders
29 Marc-Andre Fleury
90 Robin Lehner
