Avalanche Pregame Notes
Avalanche Game 51 at Ottawa Senators: Lines, Notes & How To Watch
The Colorado Avalanche (35-6-9) continue a four-game East Coast road trip against the Ottawa Senators (24-21-7). Puck drop is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. MT.
READ MORE: Deen’s View: Malinski’s Extension Could Signal Change on Avalanche Blueline (+)
Key Stories to Watch
- The Avalanche began their road trip with a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Brock Nelson had a hat trick, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 31 saves. His shutout bid ended with 1:02 remaining in regulation.
- Blackwood gets the nod in goal again, going up against Ottawa’s James Reimer. The Sens signed Reimer on Jan. 12, and he is 1-2-1 with a .871 save percentage.
- The Avs’ lineup will slightly change, as Keaton Middleton was called up to replace Jack Ahcan on the third pair. Ross Colton will not play, but he is still possibly an option later during the road trip.
- The Senators are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games and sit second last in the Eastern Conference.
Season Series
- Jan. 8 vs Ottawa Senators (W, 8-2)
- Jan. 28 at Ottawa Senators
Avalanche Injuries
- Logan O’Connor (undisclosed, TBD)
- Ross Colton (lower body, day-to-day)
- Devon Toews (upper body, week-to-week)
- Gabriel Landeskog (upper body, “weeks”)
READ MORE: Toews, Colton, and Landeskog Join Avalanche’s Practice
Projected Avalanche Lines (Subject to Change)
Victor Olofsson — Nathan MacKinnon — Martin Necas
Artturi Lehkonen — Brock Nelson — Valeri Nichushkin
Taylor Makar — Jack Drury — Gavin Brindley
Joel Kiviranta — Parker Kelly — Zakhar Bardakov
Sam Malinski — Cale Makar
Josh Manson — Brent Burns
Keaton Middleton — Samuel Girard
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
Mackenzie Blackwood will start tonight.
Ross Colton will not play but they’re hopeful he is good to go at some point on this trip.
— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) January 28, 2026
READ MORE: Avalanche Lock Up Sam Malinski With Four-Year Contract Extension
Projected Starters (Subject to Change)
- Confirmed: Mackenzi Blackwood (COL)
- Confirmed: James Reimer (OTT)
Upcoming Milestones
- Nathan MacKinnon — needs 2 assists for 700
- Samuel Girard — needs 3 assists for 200
- Valeri Nichushkin — needs 4 games for 600
- Gabriel Landeskog — needs 7 points for 600
- Martin Necas — needs 9 games for 500
- Devon Toews — needs 9 points for 300
How to Watch
- TV: Altitude TV
- Radio: 92.5 FM
I know Jeremy will be watching intently to Middleton’s play tonight. Outside of Rants, Keaton is Jeremy’s favorite player. LOL!
You betcha! With my Middelton Eagles jersey on! In all seriousness I’m good with it. He is the best option at the moment. Ahcan stinks.
Anyone know why the Avs are only -145 favorites tonight? Feels like a trap!
Please fix that awful side in page.
I’m really sorry to everyone experiencing issues with the login page, as the CHN+ page is undergoing changes (and a merger of some sort with Sportsnaut). I reached out to the site administrator as soon as I saw your comments, and he asked me to pass this message along: “As we transition to our new membership platform, you won’t need to log in until tomorrow 1/29. All membership content will remain easily accessible in the meantime. As a thank you for your patience during this transition, you’ll receive access to our top-tier membership at no additional cost for the remainder… Read more »
I think with the merger they are trying to sell more content via Sportsnaut. I suspect we will no longer have a clean login to CHN and will always have to navigate to the Sportsnaut black top left page and click “CHN” to get to COLHOCKEYNOW whereas before, it was one click and you were there. I also think they changed the length of the password requirement so I’m not sure if our old passwords will need to be changed or not if they are under the number of characters required.
I think makar should play on 4th line and move kiviranta up.