Avalanche vs. Lightning, Game 52: Lines, Notes & How to Watch

Just five days after getting beaten down in Amalie Arena by the Lightning, the Colorado Avalanche will look for revenge.

This time, the game will take place on their home ice.

“I don’t mind it,” Rantanen said about playing the Lightning again so quickly. “We only see them twice a year, so you kind of remember how they play a little bit. Meetings are a little bit shorter because we just played them. I like it better this way.”

The Avalanche, unfortunately, continue to get bit by the injury bug. Erik Johnson left the game on Saturday after blocking a shot, and did not return. There is no timeline just yet on how long he will be out. Also out is Pavel Francouz, who is dealing with a lower body injury. Jonas Johansson has been called up to backup Alexandar Georgiev, who will start tonight.

While Josh Manson is getting close to returning, he will not be an option to play tonight. However, there is a chance he plays tomorrow in Minnesota.

After shutting out the Avalanche, the Lightning went into Dallas and took care of the Central division leading Stars by a score of 3-1. No surprise, they were led by Andrei Vasilevsky in net, who stopped 28 of the 29 shots he faced. He’s expected to start against the Avalanche.

This is the final meeting between the two teams this regular season.

Expected Colorado Avalanche Lines

Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Valeri Nichushkin

Evan Rodrigues – J.T. Compher – Mikko Rantanen

Matt Nieto – Alex Newhook – Denis Malgin

Logan O’Connor – Ben Meyers – Andrew Cogliano

Defense

Devon Toews – Samuel Girard

Andreas Englund – Bowen Byram

Kurtis MacDermid – Brad Hunt

Goalies

Alexandar Georgiev

Jonas Johansson

Expected Tampa Bay Lightning Lines, per PuckPedia.com

Steven Stamkos – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov

Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Alex Killorn

Ross Colton – Nick Paul – Pat Maroon

Vladimir Namestnikov – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Corey Perry

Defense:

Victor Hedman – Zach Bogosian

Mikhail Sergachev – Erik Creak

Ian Cole – Cal Foote

Goalies:

Andrei Vasilevsky

Special Teams

Colorado Avalanche Power Play: 23.8%, 9th in NHL

Colorado Avalanche Penalty Kill: 76.7%, 20th in NHL

Tampa Bay Lightning Power Play: 26.6%, 2nd in NHL

Tampa Bay Lightning Penalty Kill:80.4%, 13th in NHL

How to Watch

TV: Altitude TV

Radio: 92.5 FM Altitude Sports Radio

Game Time: 7:00 PM MST