Colorado Avalanche: 11-1-5
The opponent: Buffalo Sabers 5-7-4
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Time: 7:00 pm local time
Look: Altitude, Altitude+, ESPN+
Hear: Altitude Sports Radio, 92.5 FM
Colorado Avalanche
This is the type of game the Avalanche should go through. I’m not saying they can win without effort, but it shouldn’t take long for the Avalanche to get a firm grip on this one early, with Buffalo currently touting the FOURTH-worst goal differential in the league (-11). This is especially true if the Avalanche continues to play like they did while beating the Pacific-leading Ducks for their FOURTH straight victory.
Nathan MacKinnon has scored three or more points in a single game five times this year, and I’m aiming for him to do it once again tonight. MacKinnon is starting an early and effective Hart Trophy campaign alongside a Norris bid from his good friend Cale Makar.
Unfortunately, it looks like Val Nichushkin will miss some time after suffering an injury during Colorado’s impressive win over the Ducks. Bednar mentioned today that Val will miss some time, but he’s not sure how much yet.
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It’s good that the Avalanche have gotten a lot of deep contributions lately and are benefiting from Gavin Brindley’s budding career. I would expect Gabe Landeskog or Victor Olofsson to crack the top six in Nichushkin’s absence.
This is the perfect night for MacKenzie Blackwood to get back into the bagpipers’ fold and a great night to deliver a performance to spur her resurgence. He is the confirmed starter tonight for the Avalanche.
Projected lineup:
Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – MartÃn Necas
Ross Colton – Brock Nelson – Victor Olofsson (Valeri Nichushkin)
Gabe Landeskog – Jack Drury – Gavin Brindley
Parker Kelly – Zakhar Bardakov – Tristen Nielsen
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Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Josh Manson – Brent Burns
Jack Ahcan – Sam Malinski
MacKenzie Blackwood
Scott Weedwood
buffalo sabers
Despite their efforts, I fear this Sabers team looks like one that will miss the playoffs for the 15th consecutive season. Their chances have been significantly affected by a litany of injuries and other factors, resulting in a severely depleted squad.
The lack of depth and name recognition at the center position is evident, which brings me to my prediction for Nathan MacKinnon. If you consider that the Sabers played the Utah Mammoth last night and you read my article about altitude advantages, you should view this as a scheduled loss for Buffalo.
Projected lineup:
Alex Tuch — ryan mcleod — Tage Thompson
Isaac Rosen — Noah Ostlund — Jack Quinn
Jordan Greenway — Tyson Kozak — jose doan
jose dune — Peyton Krebs — Beck Malenstyn
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Bowen Byram — Conor Timmins
Mattias Samuelsson — Owen Power
Jacob Bryson — Michael Kesselring
Alex Lyon
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Ride or die, Avalanche fans!