Avalanche vs. Sharks, Game 37: Lines, Starting Goalies & How To Watch

Both the Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks felt it was best to get all their games out of the way before the New Year, I guess.

On Sunday. night, before the calendar turns to 2024, the Avalanche and Sharks will meet for one last time this season, and Colorado will get a nice boost to their blueline.

Sam Girard, who has been away from the team since entering the NHL/NHLPA Players Assistance Program back on Nov. 24, will return to the lineup for the Avalanche. After practice on Saturday, Jared Bednar said that he would start the game with Jack Johnson. Will he finish there? I wouldn’t bet on it. The staff likes to use Girard a lot, and he’ll probably spend a lot of time with various different partners.

Up front, Ross Colton is very much a question mark. The Avalanche are not holding a morning skate on Sunday, but Colton will likely try to skate to see if he’s going to be able to play. When asked if Colton was a possibility to play against the Sharks, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar didn’t exactly give a clear answer.

“I’d say probable, doubtful, somewhere in there. I don’t have an answer,” he said. So we wait.

With no morning skate, the starter won’t be confirmed until warmups, but it’s a good bet that Colorado goes back to Alexandar Georgiev. After a tough game in Arizona, Bednar explained why he went back to Georgiev against the Blues.

“Part of it is that he’s rested,” Bednar said. “He’s our starter, he’s rested, we needed to try and make that a successful road trip. We challenged our team in a bunch of different areas, especially on the defensive side of things. Your most important defender is your goalie, so if we’re going to challenge our team, I’d like to try and give him a chance to respond and he did in a big way.”

As for the Sharks, I’d expect Kahkonen to get the start in net against the Avalanche.

The Sharks currently sit dead last in the NHL with 21 points.

Expected Colorado Avalanche Lines

Jonathan Drouin – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen

Miles Wood – Ryan Johansen – Valeri Nichushkin

Andrew Cogliano – Ben Meyers – Logan O’Connor

Kurtis MacDermid – Fredrik Olofsson – Joel Kiviranta

Defense

Devon Toews – Cale Makar

Bowen Byram –  Josh Manson

Jack Johnson – Sam Girard

Goalies

Alexandar Georgiev

Expected San Jose Sharks Lineup

Eklund – Hertl – Zadina

Duclair – Granlund – Zetterlund

Hoffman – Studnicka – Kunin

Bailey –  Carpenter – Barabonov

Defense:

Ferraro – Burroughs

Thrun – Rutta

Okhotyuk – Addison

Goalies:

Kahkonen

Special Teams

Colorado Avalanche Power Play: 24.2%, 8th in NHL

Colorado Avalanche Penalty Kill: 84%, 6th in NHL

San Jose Sharks Power Play: 18.9%, 20th in NHL

San Jose Sharks Penalty Kill: 73.8%, 28th in NHL

How to Watch

TV: Altitude TV, ESPN+

Radio: 92.5 Altitude Radio

Game Time: 6:00 PM MST