Avalanche vs. Kings, Game 1: Lines, Starting Goalies & How to Watch

The long wait is over, as the Colorado Avalanche will take on the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night, opening their 2023-24 season.

Although, since it’s a nationally televised game, the wait will be a little longer than normal. What I’m being told is an 8:27 MST start time, so drink some coffee to stay awake.

Both the Avalanche and the Kings will be without a regular player tonight, although the Avalanche can actually replace their missing regular.

Andrew Cogliano, who fractured his neck in the playoffs against Seattle, will not be available for tonight’s game. In his place, Kurtis MacDermid will step in and play forward. How much he actually plays is usually anyone’s guess, but he’ll be on the bench.

Los Angeles will be without Viktor Arvidsson, and for cap reasons, can’t replace him in the lineup, so they’ll only be dressing 17 skaters.

The Avalanche have historically had issues playing their style against the Kings, and Wednesday night will be big test, particularly down the middle. Three of the four centers on Colorado are new to the team, and the Kings are very strong at center. According to Jared Bednar, they play a little differently than other teams in the league.

“Really disciplined in their structure,” Bednar said. “Kind of a unique structure compared to some other teams. Very patient, and they play hard and again, very disciplined…I don’t mind seeing how we match up against them early in the season.”

Colorado has essentially practiced with the same top nine since training camp started. That’s not by mistake.

“I’ve liked what I’ve seen through the course of camp and through some of the exhibition games,” Bednar said of his lines. “Some of the other options that I’ve liked, we’ve used in the past as well. I don’t like changing things on a daily basis just to change it. If it works, we’ll go with it for a while.”

Alexandar Georgiev will be in net for the Avalanche, and it’s expected to be Cam Talbot for the Kings.

Expected Colorado Avalanche Lines

Jonathan Drouin – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen

Artturi Lehkonen – Ryan Johansen – Valeri Nichushkin

Miles Wood – Ross Colton – Tomas Tatar

Kurtis MacDermid – Fredrik Olofsson – Logan O’Connor

Defense

Devon Toews – Cale Makar

Sam Girard – Josh Manson

Bowen Byram – Jack Johnson

Goalies

Alexandar Georgiev

Justus Annunen

Expected Los Angeles Kings Lines

Quinton Byfield – Anze Kopitar – Adrian Kempe

Kevin Fiala – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Alex Laferriere

Trevor Moore – Phillip Danault – Trevor Lewis

Carl Grundstrom – Blake Lizotte

Defense:

Mikey Anderson – Drew Doughty

Vladislav Gavrikov – Matt Roy

Tobias Bjornfoot – Jordan Spence

Goalies:

Cam Talbot

Pheonix Copley

Special Teams

Colorado Avalanche Power Play: 24.5%, 6th in NHL (last season)

Colorado Avalanche Penalty Kill: 79%, 17th in NHL (last season)

Los Angeles Kings Power Play: 25.3%, 4th in NHL (last season)

Los Angeles Kings Penalty Kill: 75.8%, 24th in NHL (last season)

How to Watch

TV: TNT, Max (streaming)

Radio: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5

Game Time: 8:00 PM MST (8:27 start time)