Avalanche Game 37 at Utah Hockey Club, Manson Returns! Lines, Notes, & How to Watch

The Colorado Avalanche (21-15-0) are back at home for the third and final meeting against the struggling Seattle Kraken (16-12-6). Puck drop is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. MT.

READ MORE: Mackenzie Blackwood Signs Five-Year Extension With the Avalanche

Colorado is riding a three-game winning streak and is set to play its third and final game against Utah this season. The Avs won the first game 5-1 at Delta Center. The favor was returned by the road team at Ball Arena, where Andre Tourigney’s club was victorious 4-1 just two weeks ago.

The defense will get a boost for the Avs as they welcome Josh Manson back into the lineup. Manson hasn’t played since Nov. 29 after suffering an upper-body injury following a collision with the end boards. Colorado was 8-4-0 in the 12 games since.

Mackenzie Blackwood is expected to get the nod in goal for the Avs as he was the first goalie off the ice. Blackwood signed a five-year contract extension earlier on Friday, locking him in with Colorado’s core through the 2029-30 season. The team’s new long-term starting netminder is 3-1-0 in four starts and has surrendered just two goals in each game. Blackwood started Colorado’s most recent game on Dec. 22 where he faced just 19 shots in a 5-2 Avalanche victory.

Utah is 6-2-2 in its last 10 games and enters the matchup just four points back of the Avalanche with two games in hand. Their record doesn’t tell the whole story, though, because they’ve won just 16 of 34 games. Utah’s points are somewhat inflated because they have a whopping six overtime losses.

Karel Vejmelka has been a pleasant surprise for the newly relocated franchise. Following a great year for Connor Ingram in Arizona, it’s been all Vejmelka this year, and he’ll again get the start for Utah. Vejmelka is 8-8-2 but has a career-high .917 save percentage. Ingram is 6-4-3 with a brutal .871 save percentage.

Clayton Keller, Dylan Guenther, and Logan Cooley all have at least 30 points while new top defenseman Mikhail Sergachev has pitched in with 26 points in 34 games.

READ MORE: Avalanche Need a Win vs Winnipeg Jets on New Year’s Eve

Season Series

• Oct. 24 at Utah Hockey Club (W, 5-1)
• Dec. 12 vs Utah Hockey Club (L, 4-1)
• Dec. 27 at Utah Hockey Club

Avalanche Injuries

• 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

Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard — Josh Manson
Calvin de Haan — Sam Malinski

Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood

Projected Starters (subject to change)

• Expected: Mackenzie Blackwood (COL)
• Confirmed: Karel Vejmelka (UTA)

Upcoming Milestones

• Mikko Rantanen — needs 2 PPG for 100
• Nathan MacKinnon — needs 4 PPG for 100
• Cale Makar — needs 3 goals for 100
• Logan O’Connor — needs 1 game for 300, 9 points for 100
• Devon Toews — needs 6 assists for 200
• Casey Mittelstadt — needs 7 games for 400

How to Watch

• TV: ESPN 2
• Radio: 92.5 FM