Avalanche vs. Ducks, Game 23: Lines, Starting Goalies & How To Watch

The last time the Colorado Avalanche and Anaheim Ducks met, it didn’t go very well for the young team from Southern California. Since that 8-2 loss, they’ve been stuck in a rut, having lost eight consecutive games.

On Saturday night, the Ducks will look to change their fortune, as this time, they host the Avalanche at the Honda Center.

For the Avalanche, it’s expected to be the exact same lineup that they dressed on Thursday night against the Coyotes. Sam Malinski is up with the team as an extra, but barring an injury, don’t expect him to enter the lineup.

The one change that will occur is in net, as Ivan Prosvetov will get the start. The Avalanche fly to Los Angeles to play the Kings on Sunday, and the Kings are one of the hottest teams in the Western Conference, so it makes sense that Colorado would hold Alexandar Georgiev out for that game.

The Ducks will start John Gibson in net against the Avalanche. With the start, he will pass former Avalanche goalie J.S. Giguere for the most games played by a goaltender in Ducks history.

Anaheim is still without Trevor Zegras, but he hasn’t exactly had a strong season to begin with. They’re led offensively by Frank Vatrano and Mason McTavish. The last time these two teams played, the Avalanche essentially had a spy on Vatrano on the powerplay. Look for that again on Saturday night.

Heads up for anyone that can legally watch this game, as it will be broadcast on Altitude 2 as opposed to the standard Altitude channel.

Expected Colorado Avalanche Lines

Valeri Nichushkin – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen

Tomas Tatar – Ryan Johansen – Jonathan Drouin

Miles Wood – Ross Colton – Logan O’Connor

Andrew Cogliano – Fredrik Olofsson – Joel Kiviranta

Defense

Devon Toews – Cale Makar

Bowen Byram –  Josh Manson

Jack Johnson – Caleb Jones

Goalies

Ivan Prosvetov

Alexandar Georgiev

Expected Anaheim Ducks Lineup

Vatrano – McTavish – Strome

Killorn – Carlsson – Terry

Jones – Henrique – Silfverberg

McGinn – Carrick – Leason

Defense:

Fowler – Luneau

Lacombe – Gudas

Mintyukov – Lyubushkin

Goalies:

John Gibson

Special Teams

Colorado Avalanche Power Play: 21.3%, 12th in NHL

Colorado Avalanche Penalty Kill: 87.2%, 5th in NHL

Anaheim Ducks Power Play: 20%, 16th in NHL

Anaheim Ducks Penalty Kill: 78.8%, 19th in NHL

How to Watch

TV: Altitude TV 2, ESPN+

Radio: 950 AM

Game Time: 8:00 PM MST