Colorado Avalanche
Avalanche vs. Ducks, Game 79: Lines, Starting Goalies & How to Watch

The Colorado Avalanche and the Anaheim Ducks will face-off one final time on Sunday night.
For the Avalanche, it will be their last opportunity to feast on a bottom-feeder team, as the schedule gets a little tougher the rest of the week. It will also be a chance for the Avalanche to distance themselves from the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild in the standings, as both those teams will be off for the day.
In net will be Pavel Francouz. He has not started a game since Feb. 7, missing the last two months with a lower-body injury. The Avalanche are still carrying three goaltenders, so it could be an opportunity for them to give Alexandar Georgiev a night to relax in the press box.
Bowen Byram did not play on Saturday night against the Kings, and with no morning skate, we won’t know if he’s playing or not until the Avalanche take the ice for warmups.
With 57 points, the Ducks are just one point up on both Chicago and Columbus for the worst record in the NHL. They probably would prefer to lose to increase their odds of getting Connor Bedard this summer.
There is a chance Drew Helleson makes his debut for the Ducks on Sunday. He was a second round pick for the Avalanche in 2019, but was dealt to Anaheim to acquire Josh Manson last March.
The Ducks started Olle Eriksson Ek on Saturday, so look for them to go with Lukas Dostal in net against the Avalanche.
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
Jack Johnson – Erik Johnson
Kurtis MacDermid – Brad Hunt
Goalies
Pavel Francouz
Jonas Johansson
Expected Anaheim Ducks Lines, per DailyFaceoff.com
Vatrano-Zegras-Strome
Henrique-McTavish-Terry
Jones-Lundestrom-Megna
Comtrois-Grant-Carrick
Defense:
Fowler-Helleson
Benoit-Shattenkirk
Beauliue-White
Goalies:
Dostal
Eriksson Ek
Special Teams
Colorado Avalanche Power Play: 24.7%, 5th in NHL
Colorado Avalanche Penalty Kill: 78.8%, 17th in NHL
Anaheim Ducks Power Play: 16%, 30th in NHL
Anaheim Ducks Penalty Kill: 72.7%, 30th in NHL
How to Watch
TV: TNT
Radio: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5
Game Time: 6:30 PM MST