Game Preview: The Colorado Avalanche head over the Rocky Mountains to visit the Utah Hockey Club

After the NHL holiday, Colorado hits the road to start their next stretch this season. It starts tonight in Utah, where they take on Hockey Club.

This will be the third and final regular season game between these two teams. Utah won the last game 4-1 and the Avalanche won in Salt Lake City 5-1 in October.

Colorado avalanche

Colorado finished their first part of the season ahead of their vacation on a high note as they beat the Seattle Kraken by a final score of 5-2 on the back of a Joel Kiviranta hat trick. They head to Utah tonight to take on Hockey Club and hope to pick up right where they left off before the holiday break.

To beat Utah, Colorado needs a good goaltending performance and for the offense to show up this time. Yes, Colorado ended up getting on the scoresheet in the last game, but it ended up being far too little too late.

After getting some nice depth production the last few games, hopefully the offense can click again tonight and put some goals on the board. They will get some help at the back when Josh Manson returns from injury.

Projected lines

Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Valeri Nichushkin
Mikko Rantanen – Casey Mittelstadt – Ross Colton
Joel Kiviranta – Parker Kelly – Logan O’Connor
Givani Smith – Ivan Ivan – Jere Innala

Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Sam Girard – Josh Manson
Calvin De Haan – Sam Malinski

Utah Hockey Club

Utah enters this game having lost two straight games prior to the holiday break. They are also trying to make a push for a playoff spot as they are currently fifth in the Central Division.

While this team may not be an elite contender yet, there is no doubt that they are nothing to scoff at right now. They undoubtedly have elite talent on that roster, with players like Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley among the points leaders for the Hockey Club. They’ve also gotten decent goaltending recently, which has certainly helped them up to this point in the year.

Projected lines

Clayton Keller – Barrett Hayton – Nick Schmaltz
Jack McBain – Logan Cooley – Dylan Guenther
Matias Maccelli – Nick Bjugstad – Lawson Crouse
Michael Carcone – Kevin Stenlund – Alex Kerfoot

Mikhail Sergachev – Olli Maatta
Ian Cole – Michael Kesselring
Juuso Valimaki – Vladislav Kolyachonok

Goalkeepers

Tonight, it will likely be a newly extended Mackenzie Blackwood in net for Colorado. This will be Utah’s first time facing the Avs, as Scott Wedgewood got the start in the last game between these two teams.

Opposite him, Karel Vejmelka will probably get the start for Utah. Colorado faced him in the last game and was unable to solve him until it was too little, too late. They will need to find a way to get the puck past him early tonight if they hope to walk away with a win tonight.