The Arizona Coyotes scared the Colorado Avalanche the last time they were at Ball Arena. The Avalanche isn’t the only team that has had life difficult recently.
Friday night is the first of two straight games against the troublesome Coyotes, and the Avalanche will be getting some reinforcements for the game.
Both Cale Makar and Erik Johnson will return to the lineup for the Avalanche. Makar will once again lead the top power-play unit, and Johnson will immediately be back in a penalty shootout role for the team.
Don’t expect any changes up front for the Avalanche, which means Alex Newhook will remain in the top six. I spoke to him after skating that morning about how he felt he handled the climb from the fourth line.
“I felt good,” Newhook told me. “I’ve been trying to do my best to make the most of the opportunity I’ve had recently. I was excited and ready to move up the lineup, and it felt good. Obviously, it would have been nice to have a pair, but I thought it looked good. I just have to build on that and keep improving.”
Alexandar Georgiev is expected to start at net.
One key for the Avalanche will be stopping hot Clayton Keller. As of February 1, only Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon have more points than the Coyotes winger. He’s already set a career-high 78 points this season, and he’s just eight points away from breaking the Coyotes’ single-season points record.
These two teams will meet again on Sunday for the last time this year.
Expected Colorado Avalanche Lines
Denis Malgin – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen
Alex Newhook – JT Compher – Valeri Nichushkin
Andrew Cogliano – Lars Eller – Logan O’Connor
Matt Nieto – Darren Helm – Alex Galchenyuk
Defending
Devon Toews-Cale Makar
Samuel Girard-Bowen Byram
Jack Johnson-Erik Johnson
goalkeepers
Alexander Georgiev
jonas johansson
Expected lines of Arizona coyotes, according to DailyFaceoff.com
Schmaltz-Hayton-Keller
Maccelli-McBain-Crouse
Kellemen-Boyd-Fischer
O’Brien – Dolphin – Imama
Defending:
Valimaki-Kesselring
Nemet–Moser
Mackey-Soderstrom
Goalkeepers:
vejmelka
prosvetov
Special teams
Colorado Avalanche Power Play: 24.9%, 4th in NHL
Colorado Avalanche Penalty Kill: 78.8%, 17 in NHL
Arizona Coyotes power play: 19.5%, 23rd in NHL
Arizona Coyotes penalty kill: 76.3%, 21 in NHL
how to watch
TV: Altitude TV, ESPN+
Radio: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5
Game Time: 7:00 p.m. MST
