Projected Lineup: Avalanche vs. Golden Knights (March 27, 2021)

There could be changes to the Colorado Avalanche's defense for this afternoon's game at Ball Arena against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Jacob MacDonald is questionable for today's outing after not being able to finish Thursday's contest. Head coach Jared Bednar said he didn't have an update on MacDonald's status following Friday's optional practice and that the defenseman was still be evaluated.

If MacDonald can't play then taxi-squad members Greg Pateryn or Dan Renouf are likely to take his place in the lineup.
Matt Calvert (upper-body injury) will miss his second straight contest, and Bednar said the timetable for the forward's return is now week-to-week.
Goaltender Philipp Grubauer is expected to make his second straight start in the net after stopping 18 shots on Thursday. He is on a career-long eight-game winning streak and has 20 victories on the year after 27 appearances; it is the quickest a goalie has reached 20 wins in franchise history, and he is the only one to do it in fewer than 30 outings.
Colorado has gained points in nine straight outings (8-0-1) and is on a seven-game winning streak at home. The Avs defeated the Knights 5-1 in the first matchup of the set on Thursday, scoring five unanswered markers in the final 40 minutes of play.
Both teams are tied atop the West Division standings with 45 points, but Vegas has played one less game than Colorado.
Below is the Avalanche's projected lineup for today's game against the Golden Knights based on the forward combinations and defensive pairings from Thursday's contest. They are subject to change.
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
20 Brandon Saad - 91 Nazem Kadri - 95 Andre Burakovsky
13 Valeri Nichushkin - 17 Tyson Jost - 72 Joonas Donskoi
37 J.T. Compher - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Logan O'Connor
Defensemen
7 Devon Toews - 8 Cale Makar
34 Jacob MacDonald - 49 Samuel Girard
27 Ryan Graves - 4 Bowen Byram
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
35 Jonas Johansson
Taxi Squad: Sheldon Dries, Greg Pateryn, Dan Renouf, T.J. Tynan, Adam Werner
Injury Report: Matt Calvert (upper body), Pavel Francouz (lower body), Erik Johnson (upper body)