Game Preview: Colorado Avalanche head over the Rocky Mountains to pay a visit to Utah Hockey Club

After the NHL holiday break, Colorado heads out on the road to kick off their next stretch this season. It starts tonight in Utah where they take on the Hockey Club.

This will be the third and final regular season game between these two teams. Utah won the last game 4-1, and the Avalanche won in Salt Lake City 5-1 in October.

Colorado Avalanche

Colorado finished up their first portion of the season prior to their holiday break on a high note, as they beat the Seattle Kraken by a final score of 5-2 on the back of a Joel Kiviranta hat trick. They head to Utah tonight to take on the Hockey Club and hope to pick up right where they left off before the holiday break.

To beat Utah, Colorado needs a good goaltending performance and for the offense to show up this time. Yes, Colorado did end up getting on the score sheet in the last game, but it ended up happening far too little too late.

After getting some nice depth production the last couple of games, hopefully, the offense can click here again tonight and put some goals on the board. They will get some help on the back end with the return of Josh Manson from injury.

Projected Lines

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

Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Sam Girard – Josh Manson
Calvin De Haan – Sam Malinski

Utah Hockey Club

Utah heads into this game having lost two games in a row prior to the holiday break. They are also trying to make a push for a playoff spot, as they currently sit fifth in the Central Divison.

While this team might not be an elite contender yet, there’s no denying that they’re nothing to scoff at right now. They have elite talent on that roster no doubt, with players like Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley being among the point leaders for the Hockey Club. They’ve been getting decent goaltending recently as well, which has certainly helped them up till this point in the year.

Projected Lines

Clayton Keller – Barrett Hayton – Nick Schmaltz
Jack McBain – Logan Cooley – Dylan Guenther
Matias Maccelli – Nick Bjugstad – Lawson Crouse
Michael Carcone – Kevin Stenlund – Alex Kerfoot

Mikhail Sergachev – Olli Maatta
Ian Cole – Michael Kesselring
Juuso Valimaki – Vladislav Kolyachonok

Goaltenders

Tonight, it will likely be a newly-extended Mackenzie Blackwood going in net for Colorado. This will be the first time facing Utah with the Avs, as Scott Wedgewood got the start in the last matchup between these two teams.

Across from him, Karel Vejmelka will likely get the start for Utah. Colorado faced him in the last game and was unable to solve him until it was too little, too late. They’ll have to find a way to get pucks past him early on tonight if they hope to walk away with a win here tonight.