Avalanche vs. Red Wings, Game 68: Lines, Notes & How to Watch

Looking to sweep their four game road trip, the Colorado Avalanche will head to Detroit to take on the Red Wings on Saturday afternoon.

They’ll do so with their starting goaltender, Alexandar Georgiev, expected back in net. Jonas Johansson gave Georgiev a rest on Thursday night, and helped the Avalanche walk away with a win because of a ridiculous save late. They were helped by a truly bizarre game-winning goal.

One thing to look for? The potential return of Darren Helm. The fourth line really struggled against Ottawa, and Helm has been on the trip taking contact. Seeing as how Helm played the majority of his career in Detroit, this may be his last chance to suit up in the the Motor City. It’s believed he’s been pushing hard to return for this game, so we’ll likely find out around warm-ups if he feels good enough to play.

They may not be in the same conference anymore, but Avalanche fans always love seeing them take down the Red Wings. Detroit was pushing hard for a playoff spot, but in the last few weeks, have really fallen off. They’ve lost eight of their last 10 games and are a long shot to make it into the postseason now. They’re led offensively by Dylan Larkin, who signed a massive eight-year extension earlier this month.

This will be the final meeting between the teams this year. The Avalanche blew out the Red Wings back in January at Ball Arena by a score of 6-3.

Expected Colorado Avalanche Lines

Evan Rodrigues – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen

Valeri Nichushkin – J.T. Compher – Denis Malgin

Andrew Cogliano – Lars Eller – Logan O’Connor

Matt Nieto – Alex Newhook – Alex Galchenyuk

Defense

Devon Toews – Cale Makar

Samuel Girard – Bowen Byram

Jack Johnson – Brad Hunt

Goalies

Alexandar Georgiev

Jonas Johansson

Expected Detroit Red Wings Lines, per DailyFaceoff.com

Pius Suter – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond

Dominik Kubalik – Andrew Copp – David Perron

Filip Zadina – Joe Veleno – Jonatan Berggren

Adam Erne – Austin Czarnik – Alex Chiasson

Defense:

Jake Walman – Moritz Seider

Olli Maatta – Jordan Oesterle

Simon Edvinsson – Robert Hagg

Goalies:

Ville Husso

Magnus Hellberg

Special Teams

Colorado Avalanche Power Play: 24.3%, 5th in NHL

Colorado Avalanche Penalty Kill: 78.8%, 18th in NHL

Detroit Red Wings Power Play: 21.1%,17th in NHL

Detroit Red Wings Penalty Kill: 78.3%, 19th in NHL

How to Watch

TV: NHL Network, Altitude

Radio: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5

Game Time: 11:00 AM MST