Avalanche vs. Kraken, Game 45: Lines, Notes & How to Watch

The Colorado Avalanche are back rolling again, but on Saturday night, they’ll face a team even hotter than them.

Winners of their last four, the Avalanche head to Seattle to take on the red-hot Kraken.

On Friday, the Avalanche played again without superstar defenseman Cale Makar. It did not matter, as the team buckled down defensively and took advantage of their opportunities on the powerplay on their way to a 4-1 win.

It’s possible Cale Makar suits up on Saturday night. He took part in morning skate on Friday morning, but was held out against the Canucks. If he does play, we likely will not find out until warmups.

Alexandar Georgiev started against the Canucks, but on the second half of the back to back, you can expect to see Pavel Francouz in net. The Avalanche goaltending duo is one of the best in the league.

The Kraken, meanwhile, are rolling. They have won nine of 11 games since the start of the new year, and have surged into first place in the Pacific division. The Kraken are led by former Avalanche forward Andre Burakovsky in scoring, with 38 points.

This is the second of three matchups between the teams this season. The Kraken took the first game back in October at Ball Arena.

Expected Colorado Avalanche Lines

Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Evan Rodrigues

Valeri Nichushkin – J.T. Compher – Mikko Rantanen

Andrew Cogliano – Alex Newhook – Logan O’Connor

Anton Blidh – Ben Meyers

Defense

Devon Toews – Erik Johnson

Samuel Girard – Brad Hunt

Kurtis MacDermid – Jacob MacDonald

Andreas Englund

Goalies

Pavel Francouz

Alexandar Georgiev

Expected Seattle Kraken Lines, per PuckPedia.com

Andre Burakovsky – Matty Beniers – Jordan Eberle

Ryan Donato – Alex Wennberg – Jared McCann

Eeli Tolvanen – Yanni Gourde – Oliver Bjorkstrand

Brandon Tanev – Morgan Geekie – Daniel Strong

Defense:

Vince Dunn – Adam Larsson

Jamie Oleksiak – Will Borgen

Carson Soucy – Cale Fleury

Goalies:

Martin Jones

Phillip Grubauer

Special Teams

Colorado Avalanche Power Play: 24.8%, 7th in NHL

Colorado Avalanche Penalty Kill: 76.2%, 19th in NHL

Seattle Kraken Power Play: 20.6%, 20th in NHL

Seattle Kraken Penalty Kill: 70.1%, 31st in NHL

How to Watch

TV: ESPN+, Altitude TV, Root Sports

Radio: 92.5 FM Altitude Sports Radio

Game Time: 8:00 PM MST