Preview: Avalanche look to payback Capitals with a win in D.C.

After a troubling loss in Denver, the Avalanche are ready for the rematch.

Just a week ago, the Colorado Avalanche celebrated the return of three regular forwards to their lineup, but they suffered a disappointing 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals. Following such a result, the Avalanche are eager for revenge as they aim to build on their recent victory in Philadelphia and maintain momentum during their east coast road trip.

Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche had a relatively quiet week in terms of lineup changes after welcoming back their trio of forwards last week. The only uncertainty is the status of Alexandar Georgiev, who missed the last two games but may return to the net tonight. The team’s focus now is on developing line chemistry and increasing their scoring during even-strength play.

Projected Lineup

• Jonathan Drouin – Nathan MacKinnon – Artturi Lehkonen
• Val Nichushkin – Casey Mittelstadt – Mikko Rantanen
• Joel Kiviranta – Ivan Ivan – Logan O’Connor
• Miles Wood – Parker Kelly – Nikolai Kovalenko
• Devon Toews – Cale Makar
• Samuel Girard – Josh Manson
• Calvin de Haan – Sam Malinski

Washington Capitals
The biggest news for either team in this matchup is the absence of Alex Ovechkin, who is now week-to-week with a lower body injury sustained in the Capitals’ last game. This interruption in his pursuit of Gretzky’s record puts significant pressure on Washington, as Ovechkin has only missed 35 games due to injury throughout his career. To fill his spot in the lineup, the Capitals have called up their 2022 first-round pick, Ivan Miroshnichenko, who will be making his season debut.

Projected Lineup

• Connor McMichael – Dylan Strome – Aliaksei Protas
• Andrew Mangiapane – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Tom Wilson
• Ivan Miroshnichenko – Lars Eller – Jakub Vrana
• Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Taylor Raddysh
• Jakob Chychrun – John Carlson
• Martin Fehervary – Matt Roy
• Rasmus Sandin – Trevor van Riemsdyk

Goaltenders
Alexandar Georgiev has practiced recently and may be healthy enough to start after missing two games, although Coach Bednar has not confirmed the starting goaltender. The Capitals will continue with Logan Thompson in net.