Open Thread: Colorado Avalanche vs Edmonton Oilers (7:30 p.m. MT)

The Colorado Avalanche are back in action tonight to square off against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. After a come from behind victory against the New York Rangers on Tuesday, the Avs had clinched the result they were after but were not happy with how they played – with Head Coach Jared Bednar citing their performance as “unimpressive.”

“Ultimately, we only had half of the team playing. That’s it. Sums up everything,” Bednar said post-game on Tuesday.

The Avs will be in tough tonight if they put together a similar effort, as the Oilers boast some of the deepest offensive talent in the NHL and have been pairing their offensive results with some solid goaltending. The Avs are going to need more from than what they gave on Tuesday to pull this result out.

Avalanche Projected Lineup:

Artturi Lehkonen (62) — Nathan MacKinnon (29) — Jonathan Drouin (27)
Joel Kiviranta (94) — Mikko Rantanen (96) — Logan O’Connor (25)
Ross Colton (20) — Parker Kelly (17) — Juuso Parssinen (16)
Jere Innala (22) — Casey Mittelstadt (37) — Jason Polin (41)

Devon Toews (7) — Cale Makar (8)
Samuel Girard (49) — Josh Manson (42)
Calvin De Haan (44) — Keaton Middleton (67)

Mackenzie Blackwood (39)
Scott Wedgewood (41)

Oilers Projected Lineup:

Leon Draisaitl (29) — Connor McDavid (97) — Zach Hyman (18)
Vasily Podkolzin (92) — Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (93) — Viktor Arvidsson (33)
Mattias Janmark (13) — Adam Henrique (19) — Connor Brown (28)
Corey Perry (90) — Noah Philp (48) — Kasperi Kapanen (42)

Mattias Ekholm (14) — Evan Bouchard (2)
Darnell Nurse (25) — Josh Brown (44)
Brett Kulak (27) — Ty Emberson (49)

Stuart Skinner (74)
Calvin Pickard (30)