Nathan MacKinnon good to go against Ducks, and Landeskog is a father again

Nathan MacKinnon was, indeed, on the ice this morning – something we told you last night was highly likely to happen. Two days after taking that dirty hit from San Jose’s Joachim Blichfeld, MacKinnon was out there in a regular sweater, looking none the worse for wear. He will play tonight against the Anaheim Ducks at Ball Arena (7:08 p.m. puck drop).

Gabe Landeskog was not on the ice this morning, but not because of injury. He and his wife, Melissa, welcomed their second child (It’s a boy) into the world last night, so he was given the morning off to be with them. But he will be in the lineup tonight.

No Bo Byram out there this morning. He still is classified as out day-to-day. Was he hurt in that fight the other night in Arizona? Could be, but we don’t know for sure. The good news on him: He was on the ice skating on his own before practice and Jared Bednar said he’s considered day-to-day.

Cale Makar wasn’t out there either, but as I also reported last night, he is expected to return to the lineup next week sometime. Bednar classified him as day-to-day.

So, this is the lineup for the Avs tonight:

Landeskog-Nathan MacKinnon-Rantanen

Saad-Kadri-Burakovsky

Nichushkin-Compher-Donskoi

Jost-Bellemare-O’Connor

D

Graves-Girard

Toews-MacDonald

Renouf-Timmins

Grubauer in goal.

The Avs are heavy favorites to win tonight, at -250, on the moneyline at SuperBook Colorado. They are +110 to win on the puck line (win by two goals or more).

Kiefer Sherwood was on the ice this morning, but unless there is some last-minute change, I guess he’s just a spare forward for right now. The Ducks have lost two in a row and are in last place in the Honda West Division. John Gibson, a very good goalie, is likely to start for Anaheim.