Colorado Avalanche Gameday: Saturday night showdown for all the pride

We’re in for a really good matchup tonight at Ball Arena. On Pride Night to celebrate the movement of hockey for all, the Colorado Avalanche welcome the Calgary Flames to town who sit atop the Pacific Division.

These two teams are destined to play in the postseason thanks to marvelous runs by both teams. Each will hope to extend their own division lead tonight with what’s destined to be an enthralling game.

Colorado Avalanche

Don’t listen to what others have to say on the Avalanche on social media - there is no need to panic. Despite a severely disappointing 2-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night, it was only their 11th regular season loss in regulation.

It was also only their fifth loss in 2022 as a whole, and we are now three months into the new year. This team is good and will continue to be so for a long time - there’s no need to throw it all out the window thanks to that loss.

The Avs will certainly be playing mad though after Nathan MacKinnon was the recipient of a high stick in the dying seconds that wasn’t called. This caused all hell to break loose with MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog each fighting and giving it to the referees.

Projected Forwards

Andre Burakovsky (95) - Nathan MacKinnon (29) - Mikko Rantanen (96)

Gabriel Landeksog (92) - Nazem Kadri (91) - Alex Newhook (18)

Tyson Jost (17) - J.T. Compher (37) - Logan O’Connor (25)

Kurtis MacDermid (56) - Darren Helm (43) - Nicolas Aube-Kubel (16)

Projected Defenders

Devon Toews (7) - Cale Makar (8)

Jack Johnson (3) - Sam Girard (49)

Ryan Murray (28) - Erik Johnson (6)

Calgary Flames

The Flames are just the start of several games for the Avs against Canadian sides. The Flames are also hot, as their team name depicts. They’ve won eight of their last ten games storming to the top of the Pacific Division.

They themselves are also coming off a disappointing loss of their own. The Flames fell to the league-worst Montreal Canadiens 5-4 in OT on Thursday night on home ice. They will also be looking to get back in the win column just as the Avs are too.

Newly acquired Tyler Toffoli from the Canadiens has found life well in Alberta. He’s got five goals and three assists in eight games, averaging an even point a game. He will look to continue his streak and continue to help his Flames climb up the standings.

Projected Forwards

Johnny Gaudreau (13) - Elias Lindholm (28) - Matthew Tkachuk (19)

Andrew Mangiapane (88) - Mikael Backlund (11) - Blake Coleman (20)

Milan Lucic (17) - Sean Monohan (23) - Tyler Toffoli (73)

Trevor Lewis (22) - Brad Richardson (15) - Brett Ritchie (24)

Projected Defenders

Noah Hanfin (55) - Rasmus Andersson (4)

Oliver Kylington (58) - Chris Tanev (8)

Nikita Zadorov (16) - Erik Gudbranson (44)

Goaltenders

With Pavel Francouz starting and falling in Arizona, it’ll likely be Darcy Kuemper getting the start and take command over his crease. For the Flames, it’ll likely be Jacob Markstrom who will look to continue his own upward trend after a hard start to new life in Calgary.