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