Devils at Avalanche preview

DEVILS (9-16-5) at AVALANCHE (20-8-3)
9 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ALT, MSG+, NHL.TV

Pavel Francouz will make his third straight start for Colorado, which has gone 7-0-1 in its past eight games. Francouz is 6-0-1 with a 2.17 goals-against average and .932 save percentage in his past nine games.
Nico Hischier will return to the lineup after missing three games because of illness and will play center on the Devils' top line with left wing Taylor Hall and right wing Kyle Palmieri. Hischier has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in 25 games.
Louis Domingue will start in net for the Devils, who are 0-5-1 in their past six games and 0-3-1 since Alain Nasreddine was named coach after John Hynes was fired Dec. 3.

Players to watch

Devils forward Taylor Hall has four points (two goals, two assists) in the past four games.
Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon has 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in the past 12 games.

They said it

"It's been tough so far, but we are a good team. We're a good team when we play the right way, which is playing with speed. We weren't able to do that in a lot of games. We've shown that we are able to play with the big teams in the League when we play with speed. A win would bring back some confidence." -- Devils forward Nico Hischier
"We've shown a lot of resiliency, we've shown a lot of mental fortitude through the injuries and through the tough stretches. Those are certainly championship qualities, but there is a long way to go." -- Avalanche defenseman Ian Cole

Devils projected lineup

Taylor Hall -- Nico Hischier -- Kyle Palmieri
Jesper Boqvist -- Jack Hughes -- Wayne Simmonds
Blake Coleman -- Travis Zajac -- Nikita Gusev
Miles Wood -- Pavel Zacha -- Jesper Bratt
Andy Greene -- P.K. Subban
Will Butcher -- Sami Vatanen
Mirco Mueller -- Damon Severson
Louis Domingue
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scratched: John Hayden, Michael McLeod, Kevin Rooney, Colton White
Injured:Connor Carrick (finger), Matt Tennyson (upper body)

Avalanche projected lineup

Andre Burakovsky -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Joonas Donskoi
Gabriel Landeskog -- Nazem Kadri -- Mikko Rantanen
Valeri Nichushkin -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Matt Calvert
Matt Nieto -- Tyson Jost -- J.T. Compher
Nikita Zadorov -- Samuel Girard
Ryan Graves -- Ian Cole
Calle Rosen -- Mark Barberio
Pavel Francouz
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched:Vladislav Kamenev
Injured:Erik Johnson (lower body), Cale Makar (upper body), Colin Wilson (lower body)

Status report

Nasreddine said White would likely be assigned to Binghamton of the American Hockey League to make room for Hischier. … Makar worked off the ice and is expected to skate Sunday with the team off Saturday. … Johnson skated and could practice Sunday with a no-contact jersey.

Stat pack

The Devils have been shut out five times this season, including 2-0 against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. ... Donskoi has nine points (four goals, five assists) in the past six games.