The Avalanche's defensive game has been solid the last couple of games and the team is looking to continue that trend against an offensively skilled New York Islanders team.
The Avalanche's defensive game has been solid the last couple of games and the team is looking to continue that trend against an offensively skilled New York Islanders team.
Colorado is expected to face former Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov who has only played in 13 games this season but has a .900% save percentage and two shutouts.
Head coach Jared Bednar said his team will have to be sharp and ready to defend against the New York Islanders team that's "dangerous both off the rush and offensive zone play."
The Avalanche are coming off a 3-1 win against a struggling San Jose Sharks team put played through the frustration of an unbalanced game. Likely facing another tough goaltender, Colorado will have to keep that mentality and momentum to get the puck in the net.
"They're a good defensive hockey team, but they've opened things up significantly. They're a high danger offensive team right now — putting pucks in the back of the net, expected goals for is high, a little bit more high event on the defensive side of it as well," Bednar said. "But their goaltending has been outstanding too. So, with the amount that they're scoring and the goaltending they're getting, they're tough team to beat right now."
Ross Colton, who missed the last two games due to a lower-body injury, is "probable" against the Islanders, according to Bednar.
Colorado has won its last six games at Ball Arena and been victorious in four of its last five games. The Islanders have lost two of its last three and the Avs prevailed 7-4 in the first matchup between the teams on Oct. 24 at UBS Arena.
Projected lineup
Jonathan Drouin — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Miles Wood — Ryan Johansen — Valeri Nichushkin
Andrew Cogliano — Ross Colton — Logan O’Connor
Ben Meyers — Fredrik Olofsson — Joel Kiviranta
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Bowen Byram — Josh Manson
Samuel Girard — Jack Johnson
Alexandar Georgiev
Ivan Prosvetov
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