Avalanche Game 31 vs Utah Hockey Club, Mackenzie Blackwood Backs Up, Lines, Notes, & How to Watch

The Colorado Avalanche (17-13-0) are back at Ball Arena to host Utah Hockey Club following a successful season-long five-game road trip. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT.

READ MORE: 10 Observations From the Avalanche’s 6-2 victory in Pittsburgh (+)

The Avalanche started the road trip by giving up four goals in 12 minutes to the Buffalo Sabres, which led to the sudden debut of Scott Wedgewood. The new backup goalie played three of the next four games and has a 3-1-0 record with a sparkling .944 save percentage. Now, the latest goalie addition, Mackenzie Blackwood, is set to dress for the Avalanche as the backup to Wedgewood.

Colorado started the road trip having not yet seen what Wedgewood could bring and ended the road trip with another goalie acquisition. What a crazy 10 days it was.

Aside from the goaltending, the team is also playing some of its best hockey of the season. Colorado enters the matchup vs Utah winning three straight games and outscoring the opposition 12-3. Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen had five points each on Tuesday and are ranked first and fourth in the NHL points race.

Utah enters the matchup with a 3-1-1 record in its last five games. They were most recently beaten 5-4 in the shootout by the Minnesota Wild at home.

Season Series

• Oct. 24 at Utah Hockey Club (W, 5-2)
• Dec. 12 vs Utah Hockey Club
• Dec. 27 at Utah Hockey Club

Avalanche Injuries

• Josh Manson (upper body, week-to-week)
• Oliver Kylington (upper body, week-to-week)
• Miles Wood (upper body, LTIR)
• Jonathan Drouin (upper body, week-to-week)
• Gabriel Landeskog (knee, no timetable)

Projected Avalanche Lines (subject to change)

Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Ross Colton — Casey Mittelstadt — Valeri Nichushkin
Joel Kiviranta – Parker Kelly – Logan O’Connor
Givani Smith — Ivan Ivan — Chris Wagner

Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard — Sam Malinski
Keaton Middleton — Calvin de Haan

Scott Wedgewood
Mackenzie Blackwood

Projected Starters (subject to change)

• Confirmed: Scott Wedgewood (COL)
• Confirmed: Karel Vejmelka (UTA)

Upcoming Milestones

• Mikko Rantanen — needs 3 PPG for 100
• Nathan MacKinnon — needs 4 PPG for 100
• Cale Makar — needs 5 goals for 100
• Logan O’Connor — needs 7 games for 300
• Chris Wagner — needs 8 games for 400
• Devon Toews — needs 8 assists for 200

How to Watch