The Avalanche are back on the road Tuesday night, and they get a familiar test in Ottawa with a chance to pull themselves back to .500 away from home. Colorado enters at 11-6-2 after a 6-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, while the Senators come in with the same record and a strong home mark of 6-2-1 at Canadian Tire Centre.
Puck drop is set for 5:11 p.m. MT.
This is the second meeting between these teams this season, and the first one went Ottawa’s way. The Senators beat Colorado 5-2 in January, snapping what had been a seven-game Avalanche winning streak in the series that dated back to 2021. In those seven wins, Colorado scored at least five goals every time.
Ottawa is also getting a major piece back. Linus Ullmark will start in goal for the first time since he was injured against the Florida Panthers, returning after a three-week absence. He’s 7-1-0 with a .945 save percentage.
Colorado, meanwhile, appears set to stick with the same forward and defensive combinations it has used recently. Against Toronto, the middle six did the heavy lifting, with the Nazem Kadri, Gabe Landeskog, and Nic Roy line turning in a strong night.
Brock Nelson’s line with T.J. Hughes and Jaden Schwartz also got on the scoresheet.
On the blue line, Cale Makar and Devon Toews remain split up on different pairings.
In net for the Avalanche, Scott Wedgewood gets the call. It will be just his sixth start in 20 games this season, and he’s 1-3-1 without a win in his last four starts.
His most recent outing ended early after he allowed four goals on nine shots against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Wedgewood has had success against Ottawa before, though, going 5-1-0 in his career against the Senators.
Colorado’s projected lineup has Artturi Lehkonen with Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas on the top line, followed by Gabriel Landeskog, Nazem Kadri and Nicolas Roy. Jaden Schwartz, Brock Nelson and T.J.
Hughes make up the third line, with Parker Kelly, Fedor Svechkov and Logan O’Connor on the fourth. The defense pairs are Brett Kulak with Cale Makar, Devon Toews with Sam Malinski, and Noah Juulsen with Brent Burns.
The Avalanche list Zachary L’Heureux as out long-term with an upper-body injury, while Josh Manson remains sidelined with an ankle injury and is expected to miss eight weeks.
There are a few milestones in play as well: Sam Malinski needs one game to reach 200, Brent Burns needs two games for 1,600, Nicolas Roy is three points shy of 200, Parker Kelly needs three points for 100, and Wedgewood is six wins away from 100.
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Ilya Nabokov and Trent Miner are the names waiting in the wings at the AHL level, and that only adds to the pressure on how the Avalanche manage the next few weeks. Bednars challenge is not just about who starts the next game, but how much runway he can afford to give a struggling veteran before the schedule and the numbers force a harder choice. [Read more 🡒]