Avalanche at Panthers preview

AVALANCHE (16-7-5) at PANTHERS (11-10-5)
7 p.m. ET; FS-F, ALT, NHL.TV

Huberdeau has 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in a six-game multipoint streak for the Panthers. Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews had a seven-game multipoint streak from Oct. 3-15.
Goalie Roberto Luongo, who made 33 saves and recorded his 77th NHL shutout in a 5-0 win against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday after missing five games with a knee injury, will make a second consecutive start for Florida, which has alternated losses and wins for the past six games (3-1-2).
Goalie Philipp Grubauer will start for the Avalanche, who had points in 11 straight games (9-0-2) before a 6-3 loss at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.

Players to watch

Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen has 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) in a nine-game point streak and leads the NHL in assists (35) and points (46).
Panthers center Aleksander Barkov has eight points (three goals, five assists) in a five-game point streak.

They said it

"We went on a bit of a skid earlier in the season and I think we've learned a little bit from that. When we play really well, we have a good chance of winning. Hopefully tonight we can have a really good start." -- Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon
"I think our draft was pretty good. He's unreal. He's a really good player and it's going to be fun to play against him." -- Panthers center Aleksander Barkov on MacKinnon; each was selected in the 2013 NHL Draft

Avalanche projected lineup

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

Panthers projected lineup

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Mike Hoffman
Frank Vatrano -- Jared McCann -- Evgenii Dadonov
Dryden Hunt -- Nick Bjugstad -- Juho Lammikko
Micheal Haley -- Colton Sceviour -- Troy Brouwer
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
Bogdan Kiselevich -- MacKenzie Weegar
Roberto Luongo
James Reimer
Scratched: Alexander Petrovic, Denis Malgin
Injured: Vincent Trocheck (ankle), Derek MacKenzie (shoulder), Jamie McGinn (back)

Status report

Nemeth will play in his 200th NHL game. … Bjugstad took part in the Panthers optional skate and was expected to play after leaving the game against Boston in the third period after taking a hit into the boards by Bruins defenseman Connor Clifton.

Stat pack

Colorado's top line of Landeskog (31), MacKinnon (43) and Rantanen (46) has combined for 120 points (46 goals, 74 assists), the most of any three teammates in the NHL through 28 games since 2005-06, when the Ottawa Senators' Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza combined for 131. … Dadonov's goal against Boston on Tuesday was the 5,000th regular-season goal in Panthers history.