Quickie Avs-Sharks preview

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Oct 7, 2007 7:07 AM MDT in Avalanche Previews

Per the Post, (and to the surprise of no one) Joel Quenneville will change the Avs lines tonight, reuniting Milan Hejduk with Paul Stastny and Andrew Brunette with Milan Hejduk. Also, Ryan Smyth will swap with Jaroslav Hlinka and Marek Svatos will move up to the 3rd line, with Ian Laperriere dropping to the 4th line. Honestly, these lines make a lot more sense than the way they were...

Hlinka, Sakic, Brunette

Smyth, Stastny, Hejduk

Wolski, Arnason, Svatos

Smith, Guite, Laperriere

Peter Budaj is expected to get the start tonight for the Avs, with Evgeni Nabokov in net for the Sharks. I assume Jose Theodore will be activated for the game; he played last night for Lake Erie, stopping 21 of 24 shots in the Lake Monsters 3-2 loss.

Player to Watch (SJ): Joe Thornton seems to be looking to shoot more. In the first two games, he's averaged 4.5 shots per game, a big jump over the 2.5 shots per game pace he had last year. He has 2 goals already, both on scary-good shots. I think he's been looking to pass to much in the last few seasons, and teams key on watching for him to dish the puck. If he starts shooting more, he becomes much more dangerous than he already is.

Player to Watch(Col): Wojtek Wolski is probably the only player who has looked good in both games, and he and Svatos had a couple of good shifts together in Nashville. Tonight, they'll be paired up for the entire game (or until Q starts shaking things up). Plus, their center, Arnason, has taken the first two games off, so he should be on schedule to put some effort in.

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Comments

Thanks for posting the lines… for those of us struggling to follow along without DirecTV it’s awfully handy.

by Dave on Oct 7, 2007 6:09 PM MDT reply actions

Joe sakic ties phil espisito in goals scored tonight!

by Cupster33 on Oct 7, 2007 7:06 PM MDT reply actions

Opps points

by Cupster33 on Oct 7, 2007 10:44 PM MDT reply actions

“Thanks for posting the lines… for those of us struggling to follow along without DirecTV it’s awfully handy.”

glad to help, Dave. I’m actually planning some improvements to the way I display the line info. stay tuned…

by Draft Dodger on Oct 8, 2007 6:10 AM MDT reply actions

Who’s spot do you figure Richardson will take once he gets back. I figure he’ll get regular ice-time just because of faceoff proficiency.

by Mike Thompson on Oct 8, 2007 9:39 AM MDT reply actions

Seriously, if there is one glaring problem with this team so far, it has got to be face-offs.

by Selanne on Oct 8, 2007 10:31 AM MDT reply actions

I suppose if Richardson were to come back today, he’d replace Wyatt Smith on the 4th line. That’s a shame, because I think Richardson is better than that. But where else would he play?

And yes, Selanne, faceoffs are just awful. awful awful awful awful awful.

by Draft Dodger on Oct 8, 2007 10:56 AM MDT reply actions