Preview: One-game road trip in the Windy City

Colorado heads to the Windy City of Chicago to face off against the NHL’s worst team, the Chicago Blackhawks. The last time these two played this season, a banner was being raised to the rafters at Ball Arena. Boy, feels like forever ago.

In said matchup on October 12 on Opening Night, the Avs wound up on top 5-2 to start the season off as most people expected. Now, the Avs enter the United Center looking for any points they can get.

Colorado Avalanche

The Avs head to Chicago off the heels of a tough 5-4 loss to the Florida Panthers Tuesday night. While it seemed like a close game by the scoreline, it was very much the opposite until the third period played out.

This was due to some lack of fight within the team, especially in the second period where they all but evaporated on the ice. They needed rescuing from the usual suspects - Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and wait what? Kurtis MacDermid? Yes, the three names on the previous list helped bring the Avs back even before falling in the closing minutes.

If they string together a full 60 minutes of hockey similar to how they played in the third period, they should get the job done over Chicago. This matchup should be one where the Avs look to take control and gain some advantage for the rest of the month. Something of note: Bowen Byram did make the trip to Chicago, but likely won’t play as he’s been in a non-contact jersey skating individually recently.

Projected Lines

Artturi Lehkonen (62) - Nathan MacKinnon (29) - Evan Rodrigues (9)
Alex Newhook (18) - J.T. Compher (37) - Mikko Rantanen (96)
Andrew Cogliano (11) - Darren Helm (43) - Logan O’Connor (25)
Jacob MacDonald (26) - Ben Meyers (59) - Martin Kaut (61)

Devon Toews (7) - Cale Makar (8)
Sam Girard (49) - Erik Johnson (6)
Kurtis MacDermid (56) - Brad Hunt (17)

Chicago Blackhawks

The Hawks are coming off an impressive 4-3 overtime win over the Calgary Flames Sunday night. With the win being their tenth of the year and having a good three days rest, they’ll be feeling motivated to play against the Stanley Cup champs who have struggled recently.

However, Chicago themselves have also mightily struggled. This was to be expected, especially when they traded young star Kirby Dach away to the Montreal Canadiens at the NHL Draft. It was going to be a rough season all around as they look ahead to the Draft.

In fact, with their current record, they have the best odds of winning the Draft lottery and getting hotshot prospect Connor Bedard in the process. But, we’ll have to see how it all plays out. As for this matchup, they’ll look to win their third straight without current star Patrick Kane.

Projected Lines

Lukas Reichel (27) - Max Domi (13) - Philipp Kurashev (23)
Tyler Johnson (90) - Jonathan Toews (19) - Taylor Raddish (11)
MacKenzie Entwisle (58) - Jason Dickinson (17) - Andreas Athanasiou (89)
Colin Blackwell (43) - Sam Lafferty (24) - Reese Johnson (52)

Jake McCabe (6) - Seth Jones (4)
Jack Johnson (8) - Connor Murphy (5)
Caleb Jones (82) - Ian Mitchell (51)

Goaltenders

The Avs will likely stick with Alexandar Georgiev. However, if Pavel Francouz is ready to go after coming off of IR before Tuesday’s game, he could make an appearance in this one. For the Hawks, it has been confirmed it will be Petr Mrazek in net.