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Nichushkin back for Colorado Avalanche tonight, other lineup news

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Valeri Nichushkin

It’s going to be an exciting game tonight at Ball Arena, with the league-leading Colorado Avalanche hosting the Calgary Flames. Valeri Nichushkin will be back in the lineup, with Darcy Kuemper in net.

Those are your big lineup takeaways for the Avs, who are coming off that desultory loss in Arizona the other night.

“Losses don’t sit well with our group. Gotta find ways to bounce back,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “Calgary has a deep team, real deep. Great goaltending, lot of depth. We’re going to play them twice in the next week, and they’re a top team in the league right now. This will be a really good test for our club.”

Calgary native Cale Makar will be ready.

“Obviously, that’s the team from my hometown, the team I grew up cheering for. But my allegiances lie somewhere else now,” Makar said.

Bednar said he didn’t know who the healthy scratch would be tonight, so we can’t give exact lines or D pairs. Have to wait til around gametime to find out. But, Kuemper is in net.

Bo Byram skated again this morning. Here’s him finishing up with putting pucks in the bucket, with skills coach Shawn Allard.

There is still no official word/timeline on a potential Byram return.

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I’d be a fool not to offer it again today. So…if you want a 12-month subscription to our fair site here, use the promo code 5off in the subscription checkout box here. Price will drop from $29.99 to $24.99. Today only (unless I change my mind and offer it tomorrow too).

Jacob Markstrom is expected to start in goal for the Flames, who are 8-1-1 in the last 10.

Tonight’s game will also feature Pride Night as part of the National Hockey League’s initiatives, Hockey Is For Everyone and You Can Play Program. The Avs are -150 favorites to beat the Flames tonight, at Superbook Colorado.

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