Avalanche Pregame Notes
Avalanche Game 55 at Vancouver Canucks, Quinn Hughes Out, Lines, Notes & How to Watch

The Colorado Avalanche (31-21-2) begin their final three-game road trip before the 4 Nations Faceoff with a matchup against the Vancouver Canucks (23-18-11). Puck drop is scheduled for 8:08 p.m. MT.
READ MORE: Casey Mittelstadt Joins NHL Insider’s Trade Targets Board
The Avs are looking to win three straight games for the first time in more than a month. They’re also looking to take advantage of yet another team that just made a massive trade. Vancouver sent J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers on Friday and lost their first game without him in overtime to the Detroit Red Wings. Miller was also a late scratch on Friday when the Canucks fell 5-3 to Dallas.
Colorado enters the matchup riding two straight shutouts from starting goalie Mackenzie Blackwood. He’ll likely get the nod between the pipes as the team prepares for a back-to-back later in the week before getting two weeks off for the 4 Nations Faceoff.
Oliver Kylington was also reactivated from injured reserve on Monday, although it’s unclear if he’ll be back in the lineup. The Swedish defenseman could provide a big boost if he can build off the last handful of games he played in November. Colorado needs help on defense in the worst way. The top three of Cale Makar, Devon Toews, and Samuel Girard are all playing well, but each of the other three blueliners is being miscast one way or another.
READ MORE: Avalanche Should Focus Efforts on Upgrading Defense
The Canucks’ recent losses to Detroit and Dallas ended a three-game winning streak. It was their first time stringing together a stretch like that since early November. But ever since drama between Elias Pettersson and Miller leaked publicly, they’ve been in a freefall.
For the second consecutive game, top defenseman and captain Quinn Hughes will not play with an undisclosed injury. Hughes was injured against the Dallas Stars on Friday, and there’s a chance his participation in the 4 Nations Faceoff could be in question.
In the first meeting between Vancouver and Colorado, the Canucks won 3-1 to improve to 16-9-5. They were comfortably sitting in a playoff position. But since then, they are 7-9-6 and are ninth in the Western Conference.
The only thing keeping their playoff hopes afloat are the 11 OTLs. Vancouver is the only team with double-digit overtime losses and is two points back of the Calgary Flames for the final wildcard spot as a result.
Filip Chytil was the most notable name in the return for Miller. After a 378-game career with the Rangers where he averaged just 14 minutes per game, Chytil played a 20:03 against the Red Wings in his Vancouver debut and scored a goal. That was just his fifth time cracking 20 minutes.
Thatcher Demko gets the nod in goal for the Canucks.
READ MORE: Altitude TV, Comcast End Dispute; Avalanche Games Return to Xfinity
Season Series
- Dec. 16 at Vancouver Canucks (L, 3-1)
- Feb. 4 at Vancouver Canucks
- April 10 vs Vancouver Canucks
Avalanche Injuries
- Valeri Nichushkin (lower body, week-to-week)
- Gabriel Landeskog (knee, no timetable)
Projected Avalanche Lines (subject to change)
Artturi Lehkonen โ Nathan MacKinnon โ Martin Necas
Jonathan Drouin โ Casey Mittelstadt โ Juuso Parssinen
Miles Wood โ Jack Drury โย Ross Colton
Joel Kiviranta โ Parker Kelly โ Logan OโConnor
Devon Toews โ Cale Makar
Samuel Girard โ Josh Manson
Keaton Middleton โ Sam Malinski
Mackenzie Blackwood
Trent Miner
Projected Starters (subject to change)
- Unconfirmed: Mackenzie Blackwood (COL)
- Confirmed: Thatcher Demko (VAN)
Upcoming Milestones
- Nathan MacKinnon โ needs 3 PPG for 100
- Logan OโConnor โ needs 4 points for 100
- Miles Wood โ needs 4 games for 500
- Cale Makar โ needs 6 points for 400
- Mackenzie Blackwood โ needs 7 wins for 100
How to Watch
- TV: Altitude Sports
- Radio: 92.5 FM
Can’t see Kylington walking in and picking up where he left off. I mean, he’ll need games but I doubt he’s the answer.
Would be great to win two or all three of these games before the break; feeling good about the way they’re playing before the break would be a big positive when everyone returns. By then, Val could be back and they might have even completed more trades since there is no freeze during the break.
Pee yoo
Decent first period, but depthless frustrating game. Mitts is an ex-factor, that is he used to matter, but now has zero impact. I barely heard Kiviโs name all night. Bad reffing didnโt help.