Led by a resurgent power play unit and the surprising offense of Joel Kiviranta, the Colorado Avalanche did just enough to get past Alexandar Georgiev and the San Jose Sharks last night.

Tonight they’ll face another old friend in Greg Cronin on the Anaheim Ducks bench and another brave young team looking to defend their home ice against a Western Conference power.

Since there are new, well-known players on both teams, the duel should be interesting – and it should also be a win for Colorado.

Colorado avalanche

The Avalanche entered San Jose 0-0 on their last 14 power plays, but took a 4-2 lead to keep up with a young Sharks team that really came into it in the second half. Catching that power play spark will be a big key for the rest of this season, so we’re calling that a key for this game and more in the future.

The lineup likely won’t change unless Jere Innala moves to the fourth line in place of Givani Smith. Josh Manson is there but is still out with an injury, so Keaton Middleton should get another chance at NHL minutes on the back end.

On the net, expect Scott Wedgewood to give Mackenzie Blackwood the night off.

Planned lineup

Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Ross Colton — Casey Mittelstadt — Valery Nichushkin
Joel Kiviranta — Parker Kelly — Logan O’Connor
Jere Innala — Ivan Ivan — Chris Wagner

Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard — Sam Malinski
Keaton Middleton — Calvin de Haan

Scott Wedgewood

Anaheim Ducks

With Jacob Trouba on the roster and Cam Fowler on his way to St. Louis, the Ducks look a little different on the blueline, but probably no better – although they are definitely meaner when Trouba and Radko Gudas take the ice together.

These two veteran leaders are tasked with assembling a group of young defensemen with a ton of potential, led by Pavel Mintyukov – an all-situations D-man who can hang with the best (well, not Cale, but definitely). with the rest). of them), but while he’s playing well, he’s not yet ready to be the dominant NHL player some say he can be.

Up front, the Ducks are led by DU graduate Troy Terry, who leads the team in both goals and assists, while Jr Ducks cutters Gauthier, Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish are suffering growing pains.

However, one young player has no problems at all, and he is perhaps the most important: goalkeeper Lukas Dostal. He has been incredible this season and will rightly be a tough test for the Avalanche’s offense.

Planned lineup

Frank Vatrano – Ryan Strome – Troy Terry
Brock McGinn – Leo Carlsson – Alex Killorn
Cutter Gauthier – Mason McTavish – Robby Fabbri
Ross Johnston – Isac Lundestrom – Jansen Harkins

Jackson Lacombe – Radko Gudas
Jacob Trouba – Olen Zellweger
Pavel Mintyukov – Brian Dumoulin

Luke Dostal