Forward Riley Tufte was recalled from the American Hockey League's Colorado Eagles to play against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night.
Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar is shaking things up a little for the matchup against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night at Ball Arena.
He confirmed after morning skate that Ivan Prosvetov is starting in net and Alexandar Georgiev — who has played the last two games — will be backup.
Although Valeri Nichushkin was not on the ice Thursday morning, Bednar said he was at the meetings and will play but left to return to the hospital to be with his wife and newborn baby girl.
Projected lines for the Avalanche
Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Riley Tufte — Ryan Johansen — Valeri Nichushkin
Miles Wood — Ross Colton — Logan O'Connor
Andrew Cogliano — Fredrik Olofsson — Tomas Tatar
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Bowen Byram — Samuel Girard
Jack Johnson — Josh Manson
Ivan Prosvetov
Alexandar Georgiev
Scratched: Jonathan Drouin, Kurtis MacDermid
Facing the Kraken at Ball Arena
Colorado is coming off a 6-3 win against the New Jersey Devils and Seattle lost in a shootout to the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night.
The Avalanche are looking to extend their home win steak to start the season to five, which has only been done twice before since moving to Denver.
The teams played three games last regular season — the Avs won one, lost one in regulation and lost one in overtime. This is the second matchup between the Western Conference clubs — the Avalanche won the first meeting in Seattle 4-1.
Kraken forward Jordan Eberle is out after suffering a leg cut in practice at Ball Arena on Wednesday. The Kraken recalled its 2022 first-round (fourth overall) draft pick Shane Wright to fill the lineup.
Seattle's goaltender Philipp Grubauer is starting in net against his former team.