Ducks at Avalanche preview

DUCKS (28-35-9) at AVALANCHE (30-28-12)
9 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-W, NHL.TV

The Avalanche are five points behind the Arizona Coyotes for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. They have lost two of their past three games via shutout and are 2-4-0 in their past six games after going 5-0-1 in their previous six.
The Ducks are 4-3-0 in their past seven games following a five-game losing streak and lost 6-1 to the Coyotes on Thursday.

Players to watch

Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg has nine points (five goals, four assists) in an NHL career-high seven-game point streak.
Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past four games.

They said it

"We're competitive people so we want to make sure we're playing as well as we can no matter what time of year and no matter what kind of circumstances." -- Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler
"Our start's going to be key tonight. We have to get on the balls of our feet, we have to get on our toes, we have to get skating and make our speed a factor. No better time than to get after a team than tonight." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar

Ducks projected lineup

Corey Perry -- Adam Henrique -- Troy Terry
Rickard Rakell -- Devin Shore -- Jakob Silfverberg
Nick Ritchie -- Ryan Getzlaf -- Daniel Sprong
Max Jones -- Carter Rowney -- Derek Grant
Jacob Larsson -- Cam Fowler
Hampus Lindholm -- Josh Manson
Jaycob Megna -- Korbinian Holzer
John Gibson
Ryan Miller
Scratched:Kalle Kossila, Andy Welinski
Injured: Brendan Guhle (upper body), Chad Johnson (upper body), Ryan Kesler (hip)

Avalanche projected lineup

Derick Brassard -- Nathan MacKinnon -- J.T. Compher
Colin Wilson -- Carl Soderberg -- Mikko Rantanen
Alex Kerfoot -- Tyson Jost -- Matt Calvert
Gabriel Bourque --
Andrew Agozzino
-- Sven Andrighetto
Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson
Ian Cole -- Tyson Barrie
Nikita Zadorov -- Patrik Nemeth
Semyon Varlamov
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched:Ryan Graves
Injured:Mark Barberio (leg), Vladislav Kamenev (shoulder), Gabriel Landeskog (upper body), Matt Nieto (leg)

Status report

The Ducks had an optional morning skate … Guhle and Kesler aren't on the road trip. … Kossila and Welinski were recalled from San Diego of the American Hockey League on Friday.

Stat pack

Gibson is 6-2-0 with a 1.96 goals-against average and .932 save percentage in 10 games against Colorado … Rantanen has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past four games.