The Avs did not hold a morning skate today due to the earlier start time, so the club's exact lineup won't be known until closer to puck drop.
Head coach Jared Bednar said on Saturday that Jonas Johansson could start again in net after the goaltender stopped all 28 shots he faced for his first career shutout on Friday. Johansson is 2-0-1 in three starts with Colorado since being acquired from the Buffalo Sabres on March 21.
The Avalanche picked up another netminder on Saturday, acquiring Devan Dubnyk in a trade with the San Jose Sharks. Bednar said that Dubnyk was driving down from San Jose and was going to meet the team in Anaheim for today's contest. It is unknown at this time if Dubnyk will dress this afternoon, as Bednar also made note that he wanted to give starter Philipp Grubauer some more rest before the stretch run of the season. Colorado has 16 games remaining in the final four weeks.
On Friday, the Avs re-acquired Patrik Nemeth in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings, but the defenseman won't play today. Bednar said that Nemeth, who suited up for Colorado from 2017-2019, will join the club in Denver on Monday or Tuesday and likely won't be available to play until Wednesday after some testing.
The Avalanche will be without two defensemen against the Ducks as Jacob MacDonald will be serving the second of a two-game suspension while Bowen Byram remains out with an upper-body injury and in COVID-19 protocol after being added to the league's list on Friday. Bednar said on Saturday that Byram will have to quarantine for 10 days and could return at the two-week mark.
Below is the Avalanche's projected lineup based on the forward combinations and defensive pairings from Friday night's game in Anaheim. 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
38 Liam O'Brien - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 37 J.T. Compher
Defensemen
49 Samuel Girard - 7 Devon Toews
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
88 Kyle Burroughs - 67 Keaton Middleton
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer OR 35 Jonas Johansson OR 40 Devan Dubnyk
Scratches: Jacob MacDonald (NHL suspension), Patrik Nemeth
Taxi Squad: Peyton Jones, Jayson Megna
Injury Report: Bowen Byram (upper body & COVID protocol), Matt Calvert (upper body), Pavel Francouz (lower body), Erik Johnson (upper body), Logan O'Connor (lower body)
