The Colorado Avalanche, fresh off a victory at home on Friday, are back on the road!
Tonight, they’ll take on the Nashville Predators in a matchup featuring some very familiar faces wearing opposing colors.
Colorado Avalanche (6-4-1)
The Opponent: Nashville Predators (3-3-4)
Time: 6:00 P.M. MDT/8:00 P.M. EDT
Watch: ALT, ALT+ (Avalanche Local Broadcast Area), SCRIPPS (Nashville Local Broadcast Area), ESPN+, NHL Center Ice (Outside Regional Broadcast Areas – US), SN+, NHL Centre Ice (Outside Regional Broadcast Areas – Canada)
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Colorado Avalanche
The Avs defeated the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3 on Friday night, snapping a two game losing streak. Nathan MacKinnon, who had been held off the scoresheet during the team’s back-to-back road games, led the way with a four point effort (1G/3A). Artturi Lehkonen scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season, which stood as the game-winner, and Mackenzie Blackwood turned aside thirty-one of thirty-four shots to pick up his fifth win of the season.
Friday’s game also marked the return of Logan O’Connor to the lineup. O’Connor, who had missed the first ten games of the season with injury, skated on a line with Parker Kelly and Taylor Makar, who had been called up from Loveland earlier in the day.
In comments on Saturday, head coach Jared Bednar again highlighted the progress his team has made and the hurdles of putting together a complete effort from start to finish. “Leading into those two games [on the road], I was starting to like where our game was coming. It was just a matter of putting together a full sixty. We went the other way, and then last night, I felt that was probably, like, as close as we could get to a full sixty even with the disruption of flow with all the penalties in the second period.”
Bednar also stated on Saturday that Nicolas Roy would accompany the team to Nashville, although he’s considered “questionable but doubtful” for playing on Sunday. As for the injured Zachary L’Heureux, he’s still considered “week-to-week”, but no timetable exists for his return. Taylor Makar also will be on the road trip.
MacKinnon still leads all skaters in points (20) and assists (13), and trails Lehkonen for the team lead in goals (7). Fedor Svechkov, who was drafted by Nashville in 2021, played the previous two seasons with the Predators before being acquired by the Avs, along with L’Heureux, during the offseason.
The Avs split the season series against Nashville last season, with both teams splitting victories at home and on the road.
Projected Lineup
Forwards:
Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Nečas
Gabe Landeskog – Brock Nelson – Nazem Kadri
Jaden Schwartz – Fedor Svechkov – T.J. Hughes
Logan O’Connor – Parker Kelly – Taylor Makar
Defense:
Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Brett Kulak – Sam Malinski
Josh Manson – Brent Burns
Between the Pipes:
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
Nashville Predators
A decade ago, Nashville was at the height of its powers as a Stanley Cup contender. They made their first (and so far, only) appearance in the Stanley Cup Final back in 2017, only to lose to the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. Since then, Nashville has only advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs once, lost in the first round four times, and missed the playoffs three of the past four seasons. With general manager Barry Trotz stepping down at the end of last season, the organization wanted someone that had prior success in reshaping a roster into a legitimate playoff threat.
On June 02, they had their man: Chris MacFarland, who spent the previous four seasons as Colorado’s general manager, was brought in as Nashville’s general manager and president of hockey operations. On June 05, former Los Angeles Kings general manager Rob Blake was hired on as vice president of hockey operations. With both men having had success in Colorado at the executive and player levels now in place, a very busy summer was about to start in Smashville.
Nashville acquired left wing Ross Colton and goaltender Isak Posch from Colorado in exchange for Nashville’s third round pick in this year’s draft, Colorado’s own third round pick in the 2027 draft, and goaltender Magnus Chrona on June 16. Eight days later, Nashville acquired center Jack Drury from Colorado along with left wing Chase Bradley and Colorado’s third round pick in 2029 in exchange for left wing Zachary L’Heureux and center Fedor Svechkov.
Drury signed a five year, $22.5 million dollar contract extension on June 29. That same day, Nashville traded Colorado’s 2029 third round pick it had acquired in the Drury deal to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for left wing Nils Höglander. Prior to the start of free agency, center Adam Enstrom was acquired from the New York Rangers on June 27 in exchange for center Massimo Rizzo and Edmonton’s fifth round pick in 2029.
As free agency began, MacFarland set his sights on another Central Division rival. On July 01, he acquired right wing Mavrik Bourque and defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin from the Dallas Stars in exchange for Nashville’s 2027 second round pick and Vegas’ third round pick in 2028. Three days later, Bourque signed a six-year, $33 million dollar contract with Nashville.
Despite their refreshed roster, Nashville has gotten off to a decidedly lukewarm start, sporting a 3-3-4 record through their first ten games of the season. However, they’ve also lost five of their previous six games, with their most recent loss coming last night in overtime against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. With goaltender Juuse Saros starting in goal against Pittsburgh, goaltender Justus Annunen will likely get the call against his former club, who will be well rested and ready when the teams take the ice tonight.
Steven Stamkos leads all Nashville skaters in points (11) and goals (5), captain Roman Josi leads the team in assists (8). Nicolas Hague leads all Nashville skaters in penalty minutes (13). Saros is credited with all three of Nashville’s wins this season. Annunen has played only one game this season with Nashville, having spent some time on injured reserve earlier this season.
Despite this game having all the markings of a schedule loss for Nashville, a win tonight could pull them one point behind Colorado in the Central Division standings.
Tonight’s game marks the beginning of a five game home stand at Bridgestone Arena, and their start of their four game series with Colorado.
Projected Lineup
Forwards:
Steven Stamkos – Ryan O’Reilly – Matthew Wood
Filip Forsberg – Mavrik Bourque – Jonathan Marchessault
Daemon Hunt – Alex Kerfoot – Nils Höglander
Ross Colton – Jack Drury – Adam Edstrom
Defense:
Roman Josi – Adam Wilsby
Nicolas Hague – Jayden Struble
Brady Skjei – Reid Schaefer
Between the Pipes:
Justus Annunen
Juuse Saros
