Avalanche vs. Kings, Game 34: Lines, Notes & How to Watch

Maybe a little bit of home cooking is what the Colorado Avalanche need to finish the calendar years strong.

Fresh off a tough 6-3 defeat at the hands of the Arizona Coyotes, the Avalanche head home to take on the Los Angeles Kings.

Just prior to the Holiday break, the Avalanche had won four straight at Ball Arena. They’ll look to recapture that magic again on Thursday evening.

The team did practice on Wednesday afternoon, and were joined by Nathan MacKinnon and Darren Helm. For MacKinnon, it was the first time he had skated with the team since getting injured on Dec. 5. Although MacKinnon did not take morning skate on Thursday and will not suit up, his return does appear to be imminent.

The only potential lineup question mark will be Erik Johnson, who took a puck off the hand at morning skate and did not return, per NHL.com’s Ryan Boulding. Coach Bednar did not have an update after skate on his status.

Erik Johnson just took a shot to the hand and left skate early.

— Ryan Boulding (@rboulding) December 29, 2022

The Kings, meanwhile, are coming off a strong 4-2 victory over the division leading Vegas Golden Knights. With the Golden Knights losing in a shootout on Wednesday night, the Kings sit only four points back of their division rivals for first place in the Pacific.

This will be the first of three meetings between the Avalanche and Kings this season.

Expected Colorado Avalanche Lines

Artturi Lehkonen – J.T. Compher – Mikko Rantanen

Alexander Newhook – Evan Rodrigues – Denis Malgin

Andrew Cogliano – Ben Meyers – Logan O’Connor

Kurtis MacDermid – Charles Hudon – Jacbo MacDonald

Defense

Devon Toews – Cale Makar

Samuel Girard – Erik Johnson

Andreas Englund – Brad Hunt

Goalies

Alexandar Georgiev

Jonas Johansson

Expected Los Angeles Kings Lines, per LAHockeyNow.com

Kevin Fiala-Anze Kopitar-Adrian Kempe

Alex Iafallo-Phil Danault-Viktor Arvidsson

Jaret Anderson-Dolan-Blake Lizotte-Gabe Vilardi

Brendan Lemieux-Quinton Byfield-Rasmus Kupari

Defense:

Mikey Anderson-Drew Doughty

Sean Durzi-Matt Roy

Alex Edler-Sean Walker

Goalies:

Pheonix Copley

Jonathan Quick

Special Teams

Colorado Avalanche Power Play: 27.3%, 5th in NHL

Colorado Avalanche Penalty Kill: 76.4%, 21st in NHL

Los Angeles Kings Power Play: 22.6%, 15th in NHL

Los Angeles Kings Penalty Kill: 71.4%, 28th in NHL

How to Watch

TV: Altitude TV, ESPN+, TVAS, Bally Sports West

Radio: 92.5 FM Altitude Sports Radio