Colorado Avalanche Open Thread: Colorado Avalanche vs. New York Islanders (5:30 p.m.)

We are one hour from puck drop and Saturday night hockey! Tonight, the Colorado Avalanche wrap up their games in the New York City area against the New York Islanders. It is also their last game on North American soil for two weeks, as after this game they’ll head to Finland for the NHL Global Series.

Coming off a loss to the New Jersey Devils, the Avs need to capitalize and come out of the gates quicker than they did 24 hours ago. Overall, a better game will hopefully call for better results. They do have to do it without Valeri Nichushkin, who remains injured. Can anyone step up and provide any key depth that the Avs so desperately need?

Projected Lineup

Artturi Lehkonen (62) - Nathan MacKinnon (29) - Mikko Rantanen (96)
Evan Rodrigues (9) - Alex Newhook (18) - Martin Kaut (61)
Andrew Cogliano (11) - J.T. Compher (37) - Logan O’Connor (25)
Jacob MacDonald (26) - Mikhail Maltsev (57) - Dryden Hunt (22)

Devon Toews (7) - Cale Makar (8)
Bowen Byram (4) - Josh Manson (42)
Sam Girard (49) - Erik Johnson (6)

Follow along with our Tweets here!