Open Thread: Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars (6:30 p.m. MT)

It’s Colorado and Dallas again, but no, it’s not the playoffs, just a home-and-home in the third week of October. The Avalanche got the better of Dallas last night behind an excellent outing from Mackenzie Blackwood, who will take the night off and let Scott Wedgewood take a crack at Dallas. 3-2 was the final score last night, with two goals from Martin Necas and two fights between the rival clubs. Will we see more haymakers tonight in Denver?

Colorado Avalanche

I called for a big-boy win last night, and the Avalanche delivered, but not for the reasons I expected. The defensive lapses we saw against Toronto didn’t exactly disappear against Dallas; instead, netminder Mackenzie Blackwood stole a road game for the Avalanche. His save on Sam Malinski’s pizza, which led to a breakaway, exemplified his impact.

Nathan MacKinnon fought last night, but based on his look postgame, I’d wager he takes a bit of a break from the fisticuffs. Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar was known for throwing hands in his playing days and said on Altitude Sports Radio this morning, “It’s gonna happen,” and “I can’t say I’m not okay with it; I just think we gotta be smart, gotta be careful.”

Still no word on the status of newly minted father of twins Cale Makar, who was definitely tending to something more important than hockey last night.

Projected Lineup:

Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Martin Necas
Gabriel Landeskog — Brock Nelson — Nazem Kadri
Jaden Schwartz — Fedor Svechkov — T.J. Hughes
Zachary L’Heureux — Nicolas Roy —Parker Kelly

Devon Toews — Cale Makar (Noah Juulsen)
Brett Kulak — Sam Malinski
Josh Manson — Brent Burns

Scott Wedgewood
Mackenzie Blackwood

Dallas Stars

I mentioned in yesterday’s preview that the Dallas Stars struggled to put the puck in the back of the net in their losses, and last night proved it. Dallas generated plenty of looks, posting 26 SOG, but the shooting percentage just wasn’t there. It will be interesting to see if they correct that this evening.

Dallas also struggled to stay out of the penalty box in last night’s defeat, including a third-period penalty drawn by rookie T.J. Hughes. The Avalanche couldn’t capitalize on that power play, but Dallas would be smart to cut down on giving up the advantage in key moments.

Roope Hintz and Tyler Seguin got going a bit last night, so let’s see what adjustments Colorado makes to keep them and Mikko Rantanen at bay.

Projected Lineup:

Sam Steel — Wyatt Johnston — Mikko Rantanen
Jason Robertson — Roope Hintz — Jamie Benn
Justin Hryckowian — Arttu Hyry — Tyler Seguin
Oskar Back — Radek Faksa — Colin Blackwell

Esa Lindell — Miro Heiskanen
Thomas Harley — Nils Lundkvist
Lian Bichsel — Tyler Myers

Casey DeSmith
Jake Oettinger

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