Josh Manson Out Week To Week; Avalanche Lineup For Showdown With Boston

BOSTON – We hinted at this the other night, when he didn’t play at all in the third period in Buffalo. Just now, here at TD Garden, it was made official by the Avalanche: Defenseman Josh Manson will be out “week to week” with a lower-body injury. Add another player to the injured list pile.

Andreas Englund will be Manson’s replacement in the Avalanche lineup, with the defending Stanley Cup champs playing a Boston team that is 19-3-0, including 13-0-0 at home.

Pavel Francouz gets the start in goal for the Avalanche. No word yet on the Bruins’ starter.

The loss of Josh Manson won’t make tonight’s task – pinning the Bruins’ first home defeat on them – any easier. Former DU coach Jim Montgomery is definitely your early leader in the clubhouse for the Jack Adams Award for NHL coach of the year. The Bruins have been dominant at both ends of the ice, with Linus Ullmark having a terrific year in goal. He’s got a .935 save percentage and 2.00 goals-against. His save percentage leads the league for all goalies with 15 or more games played.

David Pastrnak has 32 points (14 goals) in 22 games for the Bruins.

Of course, the Avalanche have a few good players too, despite all the injuries. Nathan MacKinnon is coming off a five-game game in Buffalo and there’s a guy named Cale Makar, who played some college hockey not far from here, who can make a difference at times out there.

Martin Kaut is back with the Avalanche, as we reported yesterday, but it’s unclear if he’ll be in the lineup or not tonight. He was the only position player who stayed late after the morning skate, so he might be a scratch for tonight.

J.T. Compher and Cale Makar did not take part in the skate, but it was just for maintenance reasons.

Some video from the scene:

Morning skate here in Beantown pic.twitter.com/OYkxyMXlGj

— Adrian Dater (@adater) December 3, 2022