Ducks at Avalanche preview

DUCKS (26-32-8) at AVALANCHE (40-18-7)
9:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN

Colorado also can become the first team in NHL history to win seven consecutive games by a one-goal margin; the Avalanche are one of five teams to win six one-goal games in a row.
The Avalanche, who have outscored opponents 16-9 in the win streak, are 15-3-1 in their past 19 games and trail the St. Louis Blues by three points for first place in the division and Western Conference.
The Ducks have lost two straight and are 2-5-1 in their past eight games after going 4-1-2 in their previous seven.

Players to watch

Ducks forward Sonny Milano has four points (two goals, two assists) in four games since being acquired in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Feb. 24.
Avalanche goalie Pavel Francouz has won his past six starts with a 1.32 goals-against average and .957 save percentage.

They said it

"You never want to roll over. We've got pride in here and we'll try to bounce back and go back to the drawing board." -- Ducks forward Danton Heinen
"We want to keep this thing going. St. Louis is winning as well, but we're focusing on what we have in front of us and continuing this good run that we're on while the injured guys are getting healthy in the background." -- Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog

Ducks projected lineup

Sonny Milano -- Ryan Getzlaf -- Rickard Rakell
Danton Heinen -- Adam Henrique -- Kiefer Sherwood
Max Jones -- Sam Steel -- Jakob Silfverberg
Nicolas Deslauriers -- David Backes -- Carter Rowney
Brendan Guhle -- Michael Del Zotto
Jacob Larsson -- Matt Irwin
Christian Djoos -- Jani Hakanpää
Ryan Miller
John Gibson
Scratched: Andrew Agozzino, Anthony Stolarz
Injured: Cam Fowler (lower body), Erik Gudbranson (upper body), Hampus Lindholm (upper body), Josh Manson (upper body)

Avalanche projected lineup

Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Valeri Nichushkin
Tyson Jost -- J.T. Compher -- Joonas Donskoi
Vladislav Namestnikov -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Martin Kaut
Matt Nieto -- Vladislav Kamenev -- Logan O'Connor
Ryan Graves -- Samuel Girard
Ian Cole -- Erik Johnson
Mark Barberio -- Nikita Zadorov
Pavel Francouz
Michael Hutchinson
Scratched: None
Injured:Andre Burakovsky (upper body), Matt Calvert (lower body), Nazem Kadri (lower body), Philipp Grubauer (lower body), Cale Makar (upper body), Mikko Rantanen (upper body), Colin Wilson (lower body)

Status report

The Ducks did not hold a morning skate. ... Hakanpaa, recalled from San Diego of the American Hockey League on Sunday, would make his NHL debut if Manson doesn't play. Manson, a defenseman, was injured in the first period of a 6-2 loss at the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. … Grubauer, a goalie, and forwards Kadri and Rantanen each skated Wednesday but remain week to week.

Stat pack

Rakell has 13 goals this season but has gone 15 games without one. … Anaheim is 1-26-4 when trailing after two periods. … Landeskog has five points (two goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak. … Colorado has killed 22 straight penalties in its past nine games.