Colorado Avalanche Game Day: Back home in search of a win

The Colorado Avalanche return home tonight having lost five straight and six of their last seven games. The loss of Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen from the lineup has had a major impact on the team’s ability to create scoring chances.

The second line has cooled off and while Nathan MacKinnon is generating shots, the coaches have had a hard time finding wingers to compliment him.

We’re still early in the season but if the Avalanche want to secure one of the top-three positions in the Central playoff race this year, this is the type of game they need to grit out a win

COLORADO AVALANCHE

In very surprising news, the team called up goaltender Adam Werner this morning from the Eagles. As of now, they are not saying why but there is a belief that Philipp Grubauer is banged up and won’t be able to play tonight.

Short handed against a division rival, a win tonight is going to be a tough task. This is a game where the team is going to have to show what they’re made of. It’s the type of game where Joe Sakic and Jared Bednar will expect guys like Nazem Kadri and Joonas Donskoi to step up and carry a big load.

Nathan MacKinnon has been great this season - now the rest of the team has to follow suit.

The team has also called up T.J. Tynan from the AHL and sent back down Jayson Megna. Tynan leads the Eagles with 12 points in ten games and had a very strong preseason with the Avs. He brings a ton of speed and can cause a lot of issues with a strong forecheck. His insertion into the lineup will be an attempt to spark the team’s stagnant offense.

FORWARDS

Tyson Jost - Nathan MacKinnon - Joonas Donskoi

Andre Burakovsky - Nazem Kadri - J.T. Compher

Matt Nieto - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Matt Calvert

Valeri Nichushkin - Vladislav Kamenev - T.J Tynan

DEFENSE

Samuel Girard - Erik Johnson

Ian Cole - Cale Makar

Ryan Graves - Nikita Zadorov

NASHVILLE PREDATORS

With Filip Forsberg back in the lineup, the Predators are coming off of a decisive 6-1 victory in Detroit on Monday night. The team is healthy now and starting to score goals. That’s a scary thought for the rest of the teams in the Central Division.

What’s amazing is that the Predators two leading scorers are defenseman as Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis are each on a point per game pace.

Filip Forsberg - Ryan Johansen - Viktor Arvidsson

Calle Jarnkrok - Kyle Turris - Matt Duchene

Rocco Grimaldi - Nick Bonino - Craig Smith

Austin Watson - Colton Sissons - Mikael Granlund

Roman Josi - Ryan Ellis

Matthias Ekholm - Dante Fabbro

Dan Hamhuis - Yannick Weber

GOALTENDING

Pekka Rinne is going to get the start for Nashville. He comes into the game with an 8-0-2 record and .923 sv%.

As of now, we are working under the assumption Pavel Francouz will be in net tonight. We’ll update after the morning skate.

***UPDATE: Philipp Grubauer is day-to-day with a lower body injury want will miss the next few games