Avalanche Game 36 vs Seattle Kraken, Lines, Notes, & How to Watch

The Colorado Avalanche (20-15-0) are back at home for the third and final meeting against the struggling Seattle Kraken (15-17-2). Puck drop is scheduled for 6:08 p.m. MT.

READ MORE: Where Avs Play Better — At Home or on the Road

The Avalanche enter the match-up riding a two-game winning streak. They defeated both San Jose and Anaheim on a back-to-back and will take on a Kraken team that played at Vegas the previous night. The Golden Knights smashed Seattle 6-2.

There won’t be any lineup change for the Avs other than in goal. Mackenzie Blackwood gets the nod after having the day off in Anaheim. Blackwood is 2-1-0 since being acquired and has let in just two goals in each game. Defenseman Josh Manson was potentially going to return during the three-game road trip but did not play. He skated again at the optional morning skate in a red non-contact sweater. Head coach Jared Bednar said postgame that Manson will “hopefully” be back after the holiday break.

Jonathan Drouin is making progress but there is no update on when he’ll return.

Colorado is 8-8-0 at Ball Arena this season, where it’ll play most of its games over the next month. The team had just nine regulation losses at home last season in 41 games. Bednar couldn’t pinpoint exactly what the issue was at home, granted the two goalie trades will certainly help. The Avalanche have somewhat of a pattern where they play better either at home or on the road from season to season.

Seattle enters the game on a four-game losing streak. To shake up the room, general manager Ron Francis took advantage of the New York Rangers’ struggles by trading Will Borgen and draft picks for young forward Kaapo Kakko. The No. 2 overall pick in 2019 has not yet registered a point in his two games since the trade.

Joey Daccord is expected to start for Seattle since Philipp Grubauer played against Vegas.

Season Series

• Oct. 22 at Seattle Kraken (W, 3-2)
• Nov. 5 vs Seattle Kraken (W, 6-3)
• Dec. 21 vs Seattle Kraken

Avalanche Injuries

• Josh Manson (upper body, could return this 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)

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Projected Avalanche Lines (subject to change)

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

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

Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood

Projected Starters (subject to change)

• Confirmed: Mackenzie Blackwood (COL)
• Unconfirmed: Joey Daccord (SEA)

Upcoming Milestones

• Mikko Rantanen — needs 2 PPG for 100
• Nathan MacKinnon — needs 4 PPG for 100
• Cale Makar — needs 4 goals for 100
• Logan O’Connor — needs 2 games for 300
• Chris Wagner — needs 4 games for 400
• Devon Toews — needs 6 assists for 200

How to Watch

• TV: Altitude Sports, NHL Network (out of market)
• Radio: 92.5 FM