It wasn’t the best outings against the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New Jersey Devils, and now the Colorado Avalanche face the tough task of looking to get back into their winning ways against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Entering the game with a three-game winning streak, the Lightning are who they have been since facing the Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Finals back in 2022. After a rough couple of first games of the season, the Lightning are coming together and showing why they continue to be a top team in the Eastern Conference.
Despite the Avalanche scoring 4.10 goals per game, they have the tough task of going up against Andrei Vasilevskiy tonight, who, despite coming in with a 5-2-0 record, has a 2.46 goals-against average and an .898 save percentage. He really showed out in their last win against the Vegas Golden Knights, making 32 saves on 34 shots on goal.
The Avalanche will roll out MacKenzie Blackwood as their starter. While similar to Vasilevskiy’s case, Blackwood's numbers don’t tell the whole story about how he has started the season.
With a 4-3-0 record, a 2.90 GAA, and an .899 SV%, the numbers on paper suggest a slow start but aren't the whole story. Despite being one of, if not the best, players in their matchups against the Penguins and Devils, he made 54 saves on 58 shots on goal. He also had another strong outing in their second back-to-back game against the Dallas Stars, where he made 24 saves on 26 shots.
Outside of his game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, he has been a major factor in keeping the Avalanche in games, where they have made poor defensive mistakes that have led to high-danger opportunities or not being able to capitalize on the power play to extend or take the lead in games.
Changing Up The Lines With Reinforcements
One change the Avalanche hope can make to get back into their winning ways is how the lineups will be Friday night and who we should see back; that includes Logan O’Connor, who is expected to return for tonight's game.
He started the season on LTIR and was expected to make his season debut against the Calgary Flames, but was later given time away from the team when his father tragically passed away.
Along with O’Connor, Taylor Makar was called up, and Gavin Brindley was sent back down to the AHL Colorado Eagles. While it may confuse some, given how well Brindley was playing, the top-six has enough bodies, and O’Connor and Makar fit the mold much better than Brindley in a bottom-six role.
Which also means the running of 11 forwards and seven defensemen is over, at least for now, with enough healthy bodies to run a full fourth line. With how talented the Lightning are, the Avalanche need all the depth they can get and make use of their talent.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:08 p.m. MT.
Projected Avalanche Lines (Subject to Change)
Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Martin Necas
Gabriel Landeskog — Brock Nelson — Nazem Kadri
Jaden Schwartz — Fedor Svechkov — T.J. Hughes
Taylor Makar — Parker Kelly — Logan O’Connor
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Brett Kulak — Sam Malinski
Josh Manson — Brent Burns
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
Projected Starters (Subject to Change)
- Confirmed: Mackenzie Blackwood (COL)
- Confirmed: Andrei Vasilevskiy (TBL)
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