Projected Lineup: Avalanche vs. Coyotes (March 10, 2021)

Nathan MacKinnon will be in the lineup this evening when the Colorado Avalanche faces the Arizona Coyotes at Ball Arena, head coach Jared Bednar said following morning skate.
MacKinnon has missed the past three contests with an upper-body injury after getting hurt in last Wednesday's outing at the San Jose Sharks. MacKinnon took an illegal hit to the head from the Sharks' Joachim Blichfeld midway through the third period that resulted in a two-game suspension for Blichfeld.
The Avs forward will start in his usual spot at center between left wing Gabriel Landeskog and right wing Mikko Rantanen. He also resumed his role on the first power-play unit during morning skate.

With MacKinnon's return, Jayson Megna will be a healthy scratch and Tyson Jost will center a line with Valeri Nichushkin and Joonas Donskoi. The Avs' other forward combiations will remain the same: Nazem Kadri centering wingers Andre Burakovsky and Brandon Saad, and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare leading a trio with Matt Calvert and Logan O'Connor.
Defenseman Greg Pateryn will skate in his second consecutive contest, as blueliners Bowen Byram (upper body), Cale Makar (upper body), Erik Johnson (upper body) and Conor Timmins (upper body) are all currently out with injury.
Goaltender Philipp Grubauer is expected to start his second straight game in net and his 20th of the season.
J.T. Compher (upper body) and Dennis Gilbert (upper body) both took part in today's morning skate in red, non-contact jerseys, but Bednar didn't give an update on either player's status.
This is the Avalanche's fourth game of the season against the Coyotes and the fourth of the team's nine-game homestand. Colorado is 2-1-0 against Arizona in the campaign and has a 1-1-1 mark so far on its homestay, the longest of the season.
Below is the Avalanche's projected lineup for tonight's game against the Coyotes. All forward combinations and defensive pairings 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
11 Matt Calvert - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Logan O'Connor
Defensemen
34 Jacob MacDonald - 49 Samuel Girard
2 Dan Renouf - 7 Devon Toews
27 Ryan Graves - 5 Greg Pateryn
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
32 Hunter Miska
Taxi Squad: Peyton Jones, Jayson Megna, Kiefer Sherwood
Injury Update: Bowen Byram (upper body), J.T. Compher (upper body), Pavel Francouz (lower body), Dennis Gilbert (upper body), Erik Johnson (upper body), Cale Makar (upper body), Conor Timmins (upper body)