Avalanche at Jets

AVALANCHE (50-14-6) at JETS (33-28-10)

Avalanche projected lineup
Andre Burakovsky -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Artturi Lehkonen -- J.T. Compher -- Valeri Nichushkin
Alex Newhook -- Nico Sturm -- Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Andrew Cogliano -- Darren Helm -- Logan O'Connor
Devon Toews -- Cale Makar
Jack Johnson -- Josh Manson
Bowen Byram -- Erik Johnson
Pavel Francouz
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched: Kurtis MacDermid
Injured: Ryan Murray (upper body), Samuel Girard (lower body), Gabriel Landeskog (knee surgery), Nazem Kadri (upper body)
Jets projected lineup
Paul Stastny -- Mark Scheifele -- Nikolaj Ehlers
Kyle Connor -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Evgeny Svechnikov
Zach Sanford -- Adam Lowry -- Mason Appleton
Morgan Barron -- Dominic Toninato -- Adam Brooks
Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo
Nate Schmidt -- Neal Pionk
Dylan Samberg -- Brenden Dillon
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Scratched: Jansen Harkins
Injured: Cole Perfetti (upper body), Blake Wheeler (upper body), Logan Stanley (undisclosed)
Status report
Nichushkin returns after missing a 6-4 win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday because of an illness. ... MacDermid, a forward, comes out. ... Francouz will start. ... Girard, a defenseman, will miss his 13th straight game but could return at the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. ... Wheeler, a forward, will not play after being injured during a 3-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday. ... Samberg was recalled on an emergency basis from Manitoba of the American Hockey League on Thursday and will play in place of Stanley, a defenseman who is "dealing with a couple of minor ailments," according to Jets coach Dave Lowry. ... Winnipeg assigned defenseman Ville Heinola to Manitoba on Thursday.