Avalanche vs. Blues, Game 54: Lines, Notes & How to Watch

Against the Wild, the Colorado Avalanche got a “beast” back. Against the Blues, they’ll get the best defenseman in the world back.

Cale Makar is set to return against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday afternoon. With Makar returning to the lineup, it will mark the first time since Nov. 4 that the Avalanche will play with all of Makar, Toews, Byram, Girard, and Manson in the lineup at the same time. Erik Johnson is out indefinitely, but this is as close to a healthy defense as the team has had in months. It’s unknown if Kurtis MacDermid or Andreas Englund will fill in the sixth spot on defense.

There will also be a new face in net. After facing 123 shots in three games, Alexandar Georgiev will get a day off. Justus Annunen, who has played in two career NHL games and only started one, will get the start in net. Georgiev will likely play on Sunday against the Edmonton Oilers.

The Avalanche still sit in third place in the Central Division. Minnesota won on Friday evening, tying them in points, but the Avalanche carry the tiebreakers.

The Blues will look a little different. On Friday night, they traded their Captain Ryan O’Reilly to the Toronto Maple Leafs, along with Noel Acciari. After trading Vladimir Tarasenko just under two weeks ago, the Blues are headed towards a bit of a rebuild. They currently sit eight points out of a playoff spot.

This is the final matchup between the teams this 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 – Cale Makar

Samuel Girard – Bowen Byram

Kurtis MacDermid – Josh Manson

Goalies

Justus Annunen

Alexandar Georgiev

Expected St. Louis Blues Lines, per PuckPedia.com

Pavel Buchnevich – Robert Thomas – Jordan Kyrou

Jake Neighbours – Brayden Schenn – Ivan Barbashev

Sammy Blais – Logan Brown – Josh Leivo

Alexi Toropchenko – Nathan Walker – Tyler Pitlick

Defense:

Nick Leddy – Colton Parayko

Torey Krug – Justin Faulk

Tyler Tucker – Calle Rosen

Goalies:

Jordan Binnington

Special Teams

Colorado Avalanche Power Play: 23.4%, 9th in NHL

Colorado Avalanche Penalty Kill: 77%, 19th in NHL

St. Louis Blues Power Play: 22.7%, 13th in NHL

St. Louis Blues Penalty Kill: 75.9%, 24th in NHL

How to Watch

TV: Altitude TV, NHL Network

Radio: 92.5 Altitude Sports Radio

Game Time: 12:00 PM MST