Avalanche vs. Sharks, Game 77: Lines, Starting Goalies & How to Watch

Two straight games in one city is rare in the NHL, but that’s what we’ll get on Thursday night, when the Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks meet again. On Tuesday, the Avalanche blew a two goal lead in the third period, but pulled it out in overtime thanks to Nathan MacKinnon.

The team will be without Cale Makar and Darren Helm for the second straight game. These are, unfortunately, new injuries for both of these players.

All eyes will, once again, be on Mikko Rantanen. After attempting a whopping 17 shots on Tuesday night, he’ll go for 50 again on Thursday. If he does score and hit the milestone, it will come exactly 20 years after Milan Hejduk scored his 50th goal in 2003. Hejduk was the last Avalanche skater to do it.

This Day In @Avalanche History

2003 – Colorado beat St. Louis 5-2 in 2002-03 season finale to capture @NHL record 9th consecutive division championship. Avs were 1 point behind Vancouver, who lost 2-0 to LA. Milan Hejduk scores 50th goal of season & wins Rocket Richard Trophy pic.twitter.com/kS6KPV0Ex8

— Brendan McNicholas (@bmcnich) April 6, 2023

Expect Alexandar Georgiev in net for Colorado. Kappo Kahkonen will start for the Sharks. They’ve now picked up points in four straight games, which may not be a good thing for them. With 60 points, they have jumped up to the fourth worst record in the NHL, lowering their chances of winning the NHL Draft Lottery later this month.

This is the last time the Avalanche and Sharks will meet this year.

Expected Colorado Avalanche Lines

Evan Rodrigues – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen

Denis Malgin – J.T. Compher – Valeri Nichushkin

Andrew Cogliano – Lars Eller – Logan O’Connor

Matt Nieto – Alex Newhook – Ben Meyers

Defense

Devon Toews – Samuel Girard

Bowen Byram – Jack Johnson

Kurtis MacDermid – Erik Johnson

Goalies

Alexandar Georgiev

Jonas Johansson

Expected San Jose Sharks Lines, per DailyFaceoff.com

Peterson – Hertl – Gregor

Bordeleau – Couture – Zetterlund

Svechnikov – Sturm – Labanc

MacDonald – Lorentz – Raska

Defense:

Vlasic – Karlsson

Ferraro – Benning

Semek – Thrun

Goalies:

Kahkonen

Reimer

Special Teams

Colorado Avalanche Power Play: 25%, 4th in NHL

Colorado Avalanche Penalty Kill: 79%, 16th in NHL

San Jose Sharks Power Play: 18.6%, 26th in NHL

San Jose Sharks Penalty Kill: 83.1%, 4th in NHL

How to Watch

TV: ESPN+, Altitude TV

Radio: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5

Game Time: 8:30 PM MST