Game 3 Projected Lineup: Avalanche vs. Predators

The Colorado Avalanche returns to Pepsi Center this evening for Game 3 of its first-round series with the Nashville Predators.
After the Avs morning skate, head coach Jared Bednar noted that Colorado would use the same lineup it did in Game 2 at Bridgestone Arena.
Rookie defenseman Samuel Girard missed that contest with an upper-body injury, which allowed rear guard Duncan Siemens to make his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut. Siemens had five blocked shots and two hits in 10:09 of ice time.

"[Not having Girard in the lineup] impacts this game the same as last game," said Bednar. "We miss him from a puck-moving standpoint, certainly the power play. I mean he's grown into a top defender for us. He plays a lot of minutes, especially down the stretch. I felt like his game is peeking and he's getting better as the year has gone on. He's a big loss for us, but we got to move on. Other guys have to pick up the slack."
Below is the Avalanche's projected lineup. All forward combinations and defensive pairings are subject to change.

Forwards

92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
10 Sven Andrighetto - 17 Tyson Jost - 13 Alexander Kerfoot
83 Matt Nieto - 34 Carl Soderberg - 14 Blake Comeau
57 Gabriel Bourque - 37 J.T. Compher - 22 Colin Wilson

Defensemen

16 Nikita Zadorov - 4 Tyson Barrie
12 Patrik Nemeth - 44 Mark Barberio
15 Duncan Siemens - 5 David Warsofsky

Goaltenders

45 Jonathan Bernier (Starter)
35 Andrew Hammond (Backup)
Healthy Scratches: Mark Alt, Vladislav Kamenev, Anton Lindholm, Dominic Toninato, Nail Yakupov
Injury Report: Samuel Girard (upper body), Erik Johnson (fractured patella), Semyon Varlamov (knee)
The Predators held a full morning skate at Pepsi Center this morning after taking a day off the ice on Sunday.
Nashville has utilized the same lineup for each of the first two games of the series but might make a change to its third defensive pairing. Blueliner Yannick Weber is currently day-to-day with an upper-body injury, but he participated in warmup prior to Game 2 and could make his series debut tonight.
Below is the Predators projected lineup, according to NashvillePredators.com

Forwards

9 Filip Forsberg - 92 Ryan Johansen - 33 Viktor Arvidsson
22 Kevin Fiala - 8 Kyle Turris - 15 Craig Smith
10 Colton Sissons - 13 Nick Bonino - 51 Austin Watson
20 Miikka Salomaki - 12 Mike Fisher - 38 Ryan Hartman

Defensemen

59 Roman Josi - 4 Ryan Ellis
14 Mattias Ekholm - 76 P.K. Subban
25 Alexei Emelin OR 52 Matt Irwin OR 7 Yannick Weber

Goaltenders

35 Pekka Rinne (Starter)
74 Juuse Saros (Backup)