AVALANCHE (41-20-5) at CANUCKS (42-17-7)
10:30 p.m. ET; SNP, ALT
Avalanche projected lineup
Valeri Nichushkin -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Brandon Duhaime -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Jonathan Drouin
Miles Wood -- Ross Colton -- Yakov Trenin
Andrew Cogliano -- Fredrik Olofsson -- Joel Kiviranta
Devon Toews -- Cale Makar
Samuel Girard -- Josh Manson
Jack Johnson -- Sean Walker
Alexandar Georgiev
Justus Annunen
Scratched: Caleb Jones
Injured: Artturi Lehkonen (illness), Logan O'Connor (lower body), Zach Parise (lower body)
Canucks projected lineup
Ilya Mikheyev -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser
Nils Hoglander -- Elias Pettersson -- Pius Suter
Vasily Podkolzin -- Elias Lindholm -- Conor Garland
Phillip Di Giuseppe -- Teddy Blueger -- Sam Lafferty
Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek
Nikita Zadorov -- Noah Juulsen
Ian Cole -- Carson Soucy
Casey DeSmith
Arturs Silovs
Scratched: Mark Friedman, Nils Aman
Injured: Thatcher Demko (lower body), Dakota Joshua (upper body), Tyler Myers (lower body)
Status report
The Avalanche did not hold a morning skate Wednesday following a 6-2 win at the Calgary Flames on Tuesday. ... Georgiev is likely to start after Annunen made 25 saves at Calgary. ... Lehkonen, a forward who normally plays on the top line, will miss a second straight game but could return at the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, coach Jared Bednar told Altitude 92.5 FM sports radio in Denver on Wednesday. ... Parise, a forward who skated on his own Wednesday morning, will miss a third straight game but also could return Saturday. … DeSmith will start with Demko week to week after being injured in a 5-0 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. ... Silovs was recalled from Abbotsford of the American Hockey League under emergency conditions Tuesday to back up DeSmith. ... Joshua, a forward who has missed 12 games, was retroactively placed on long-term injured reserve Tuesday. ... Myers, a defenseman who has missed four games, returned to practice Tuesday but is more likely to return against the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
