Fans in Edmonton will get one last regular-season glimpse at McDavid vs. MacKinnon tonight at Rogers Place before the NHL playoffs begin this weekend.
Both clubs have secured playoff berths, but the Oilers are on the cusp of winning the pillow fight in the Pacific Division and will be desperate for a victory as they sit just one point (90) behind the Vegas Golden Knights (91), with both teams having two games remaining.
Will Edmonton pass the test and position themselves as home-icers in the first two rounds of the playoffs, or will Colorado play spoiler?
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Colorado Avalanche: 52-16-11
The Opponent: Edmonton Oilers (40-30-10)
Time: 7:30 p.m. MT
Watch: Altitude, Altitude+, ESPN+
Listen: Altitude Sports Radio, 92.5 FM
Colorado Avalanche
I’m not sure who spilled the salt at team dinner, but Colorado has been hit with an injury wave that has even extended to their head coach, Jared Bednar.
The puck he took to the face against Vegas has him still recovering from facial fractures and an abrasion in Colorado.
Maybe the view from the vantage of a fan can offer some insight, but I imagine Bedsy has his ways of influencing the group even from afar.
Now, as far as skaters go, I doubt we see Cale Makar, Josh Manson, or Nazem Kadri tonight or for the rest of the regular season.
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Josh Manson left the Vegas game with an upper-body injury and did not return.
As mentioned in the intro, without any opportunity for advancement, there’s no reason not to shut these guys down until the playoffs.
Projected Lineup:
Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Gabriel Landeskog
Valeri Nichushkin — Brock Nelson — Martin Necas
Ross Colton — Nicolas Roy — Joel Kiviranta
Parker Kelly — Jack Drury — Logan O’Connor
Devon Toews — Sam Malinski
Brett Kulak — Brent Burns
Nick Blankenburg — Jack Achan
Scott Wedgewood
MacKenzie Blackwood
Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers have been without Leon Draisaitl for quite some time, but still run with McDavid and have been a team that can’t consistently find their stride, but appear and often prove plenty capable.
Interestingly, if the Oilers and Avalanche meet later in the playoffs as both sides intend, the Oilers will have won two playoff rounds, and any doubts will dissipate, as that would mark their 3rd Western Conference Final in a row.
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The question marks in Edmonton still largely revolve around netminding, with the Skinner for Jarry deal not really panning out early on.
For now, I’d say it’s Ingram’s net.
Projected Lineup:
Vasily Podkolzin — Connor McDavid — Matthew Savoie
Max Jones — Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Kasperi Kapanen
Colton Dach — Josh Samanski — Trent Frederic
Curtis Lazar — Adam Henrique — Jack Roslovic
Mattias Ekholm — Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse — Connor Murphy
Jake Walman — Ty Emberson
Connor Ingram
Tristan Jarry
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