Game 5 Projected Lineup: Avalanche vs. Coyotes

Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar expects Andre Burakovsky to be in the lineup today for Game 5 of the team's Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round series against the Arizona Coyotes.

Burakovsky went to the locker room early in the third period of Monday's contest after blocking a shot and didn't return to the game. The Avs were leading 6-1 at the time and went on to win 7-1 to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven set.

"As far as Burakovsky goes, we don't have anything new to report. Basically, he took a shot, I think everyone saw it in the game," said Bednar on Tuesday. "He blocked a shot, he got it on the leg, and it was bothering him a bit at the end of the game so we sent him off and today he feels better and we will make a decision on him [Wednesday]. My feeling is that he will be good to go based on what I've seen in him this morning already."

Fellow forward Vladislav Namestnikov has missed the last two games for the Avalanche after getting hurt in a collision in Game 2 on Friday, and Bednar said following Monday's outing that he remains day-to-day.

Philipp Grubauer is expected to start in goal for Colorado after making 14-of-15 saves in the fourth contest of the series. He owns a 4-0-1 record, 1.76 goals-against average, .933 save percentage and a shutout in five outings this postseason.

Below is the Avalanche's projected lineup for Game 5 based on the start from Monday's contest. All forward combinations and defensive pairings are subject to change.

Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
95 Andre Burakovsky - 91 Nazem Kadri - 72 Joonas Donskoi
17 Tyson Jost - 37 J.T. Compher - 13 Valeri Nichushkin
83 Matt Nieto - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 11 Matt Calvert

Defensemen
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 28 Ian Cole
16 Nikita Zadorov - 6 Erik Johnson

Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
39 Pavel Francouz

The Arizona Coyotes might be without forward Conor Garland for Game 5 after the forward didn't practice on Tuesday.

Head coach Rick Tocchet said yesterday that he isn't sure that Garland will play as Arizona faces elimination, and the same goes with forward Nick Schmaltz, who has missed the entire playoffs after getting hurt in the exhibition game against the Vegas Golden Knights on July 30. Schmaltz finished second on the Coyotes in scoring during the regular season with 45 points (11 goals, 34 assists), and Garland led the team with 22 goals and finished fourth with 39 points.

Goaltender Darcy Kuemper is expected to make his eighth consecutive start of the postseason.

Below is Arizona's projected lineup based on the start of Game 4. It is subject to change.

Forwards
91 Taylor Hall - 21 Derek Stepan - 9 Clayton Keller
83 Conor Garland - 18 Christian Dvorak - 81 Phil Kessel
67 Lawson Crouse - 34 Carl Soderberg - 36 Christian Fischer
40 Michael Grabner - 15 Brad Richardson - 13 Vinnie Hinostroza

Defensemen
23 Oliver Ekman-Larsson - 55 Jason Demers
33 Alex Goligoski - 4 Niklas Hjalmarsson
6 Jakob Chychrun - 82 Jordan Oesterle

Goaltenders
35 Darcy Kuemper
32 Antti Raanta