Colorado is looking to bounce back after a tough loss to beat a highly-ranked Boston Bruins team.
It will be a challenging matchup for the Colorado Avalanche against the Boston Bruins as they are both highly-skilled teams. Boston is currently tied with the New York Rangers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference while Colorado is tied with the Vancouver Canucks for the No. 2 spot in the west.
One crucial key to the Avs' success is a full team effort. There have been games in the past where some players have broken off from the systems and that has hurt the team. As one of the leaders in the room, Cale Makar said that can't happen against the Bruins if they want to earn the two points.
"Obviously they're a team that protects the puck well and they're really good along the boards. So you just got to be mindful of that. It's definitely not an individual effort against these guys," Makar said about facing the Bruins. "They like to put multiple guys into battle at once and then they're successful with it and they come out with pucks and then feed it to their good D. For us, we just have to make sure that we're all helping each other out whether it's swarming or whatnot."
Nathan MacKinnon praised the emergence of his team's "no-quit mentality" after the overtime win in Dallas. He said it's important for them to keep at that no matter where they're at in the game.
"We've been doing a better job of just sticking with our game. Whether we're up or down, we feel like we're a little more level-headed," MacKinnon said. "We stick to our process for a full 60 more than earlier in the season and we've had a lot of comeback wins as of late and we don't get too down on ourselves, which is always good. And I think just continuing that is a good thing."
MacKinnon has scored in every home game since the season began and can extend that to 22 games with at least a point against the Bruins.
Colorado has to start the game on time and not let their opponent get the jump on them, like last matchup. They battled back from a three-goal first period by the Florida Panthers to tie it up in the second. Jonathan Drouin gave the Avs hope with a spectacular breakaway goal to tie it up again after Ivan Prosvetov allowed a stoppable goal and was pulled from the game.
A double-minor for cross-checking was called on Ross Colton, then another penalty on the Avs which led to a two-man-advantage for the Panthers. That took the momentum away from the Avs and contributed to the loss.
"It was a big goal obviously made it 4-4, but that penalty and the 5-on-3 that kind of hurt us there and kind of put us in a hole," Jonathan Drouin said about moving on from the loss to the Florida Panthers. "We're facing a team tonight where we can't have really those mistakes where you know 5-on-3 and they get the momentum on their side. They're strong, veteran team where you're stingy, and they know how to play the game and those mistakes are gonna be costly tonight so hopefully we don't do too many."
Colorado will have to shut down top Bruins players like Brad Marchand and David Pasternak in order to win — which will be a difficult feat.
"Great passer, obviously lethal shot, great goal scorer. He's always kind of finding quiet ice away from the net where he can shoot it. He's not afraid to go to the net, he uses his linemates well, he's a great skater, he's competitive. We could down the list, he's a lot to handle," Bednar said about Pasternak. "You have to be aware of guys like him and guys like him at all times and know where they are on the ice so they don't find any quiet ice on you where they might able to shoot in the home-plate area cause if they get those opportunities, they can score on them."
Projected lineup
The Avs recalled Jason Polin after morning skate, which indicated that Miles Wood would probably not be in the lineup. He missed Saturday's game due to illness and head coach Jared Bednar said he wasn't sure if he'd play against the Bruins.
Sam Malinski was called up Monday morning and will slot in the defense if Josh Manson is not good to go. He was on the ice for morning skate but left early. Bednar said he's working on some things but battling a lower-body injury and would be a game time decision.
Jonathan Drouin — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Valeri Nichushkin — Ross Colton — Logan O'Connor
Andrew Cogliano — Ryan Johansen — Joel Kiviranta
Jason Polin — Fredrik Olofsson — Kurtis MacDermid
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard — Josh Manson
Caleb Jones — Jack Johnson
Alexandar Georgiev
Ivan Prosvetov
Face off is at 7 p.m. at Ball Arena.
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